


Two-Way Mirror

by Timewing



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:20:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24985957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timewing/pseuds/Timewing
Summary: The 2ps have taken over the world, capturing any and all free nations. Few have escaped and hidden away, planning a rebellion so they can take back the place they once called home. It all depends on their choices on whether they succeed or not.
Relationships: America/England (Hetalia), Austria/Prussia (Hetalia), Canada & Prussia (Hetalia), China/Russia (Hetalia), Denmark/Norway (Hetalia), Finland/Sweden (Hetalia), Germany/Japan/North Italy (Hetalia), Hong Kong/Iceland (Hetalia), Hutt River/Molossia/Seborga (Hetalia), Netherlands/Switzerland (Hetalia), South Italy/Spain (Hetalia)
Comments: 45
Kudos: 64





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> wow my first hetalia fic! with the help of my wonderful hyung, we've got another fandom in the mix and I hope u all enjoy!!

**Prologue**

For the first time in centuries, Kiku was close to falling asleep in a meeting. Sitting in between Feli and Ludwig, it was easy to see the elder male was close to falling asleep considering Feli bouncing in his seat (anxious for the meeting to end) and Ludwig with his calm composure. Feli glanced over at Kiku and gave him a warm smile, completely ignoring whatever it was Arthur and Alfred were loudly arguing about at the end of the table. Ludwig noticed.

“Kiku. Are you alright?” He whispered.

“Hai, fine. Just a headache,” Kiku replied, the lie slipping from him easily.

Feli’s smile formed into a pout. “I told you not to push yourself too hard, bello! Don’t listen to Ludwig about training and work and stuff.”

Kiku couldn’t help but chuckle. “Feli-kun, don’t worry. I was just up late,” He said.

“We were binging My Hero Academia,” Gilbert chimed in and Kiku promptly whacked the albino on the back of the head with a fan. Roderich shot Gilbert a glare from across the table, seeming annoyed that he had opened his mouth at all without even knowing what he had said. Gilbert shot the Austrian a glare right back, sticking out his tongue childishly.

Ludwig huffed. “Why were you watching anime so late? It’s unhealthy.”

“It’s not that bad! I fell asleep around, um… four or five…?” Kiku looked thoughtful as he tried to figure out what time he’d dozed off. 

“Oh, relax, Luddy,” Feli giggled, smacking Ludwig’s arm playfully. “Not like anything important ever happens at these things anyway.” 

Ludwig rolled his eyes but he didn’t seem annoyed. “Ja, ja. Fair point.”

Feli beamed at him. “I’m surprised you’re not yelling at everyone, though.” He glanced over at Arthur and Alfred, who looked seconds away from getting into a fistfight. 

“You wouldn’t believe that if you heard my internal monologue at the moment.” Feli just snickered. Ludwig felt a smile tugging at his lips but shoved it down as the arguing got louder.

“Dude, just because you’re an old man who hates fun and never takes any risks doesn’t mean I don’t get to do what I want,” Alfred was yelling. 

“Scaling the Empire State Building, Alfred, is an  _ incredibly _ stupid idea! You could get hurt!” Arthur protested. 

“Like you haven’t done something  _ incredibly stupid _ when you were blacked out before,” Alfred shot back, mimicking Arthur’s accent. “I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had to haul your ass out of some pub when you got too drunk to stand!” 

Feli huffed, propping his chin on his hand. “Those two, really. They just need to sleep with each other and get it over with.” 

Kiku snorted, smothering a laugh before regaining his composure and standing up as he cleared his throat. “Arthur. Alfred. As entertaining as this silly dispute is, sit the fuck down. This is a world meeting, not a preschool classroom,” He said, straight faced the whole time. Feli was looking up at him with a slightly awed expression. 

Alfred turned to glower at Kiku, but his face fell immediately. “Hey, it’s not my fault Arthur’s a total killjoy.” 

“It’s your fault for arguing,” Kiku deadpanned. “Sit down, Alfred-san.  _ Now. _ ” His eyes narrowed into a sharp look as he stared the American down. Alfred grumbled something under his breath before reluctantly sinking into his chair. Arthur huffed and sat down without a further argument.

“Arigato,” Kiku bowed before sitting down himself as the meeting went on a bit more calm now.

“Woooow, Kiku,” Feli cooed. “That was so cool. Wasn’t it, Luddy?” Ludwig nodded, eyes wide.

“Ah, it wasn’t that amazing,” Kiku ducked his head. “They were just making my headache worse and I was really done with the argument.”

“Dinner is on me tonight,” Feli announced, winking at Kiku. 

Kiku blushed. “Feli-kun-”

“No buts, bello,” Feli interrupted. “I know how much you love my cooking.” 

Kiku opened his mouth to protest again when the doors suddenly burst open. 

“Knock, knock,” A voice sang and Arthur could see Alfred tense up.

“I do hope we aren’t interrupting anything,” a second voice came. 

Arthur stood. “Well. Lovely,” He growled, eyes narrowing. “How did you even get to this world, Oliver?”

Oliver chuckled, giving Arthur a sweet smile from where he was standing in the doorway. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

Arthur sighed heavily. “I actually hate you. Yes, I would like to know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked, you twat.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Allen, would you be a dear and handle this for me? I can’t be bothered mingling with this riffraff.” Arthur bristled at the comment, ready to either curse or tackle the strawberry blonde male.

Allen smirked. “You deal with me, and I’m pretty sure I count as riffraff,” He joked, slinging his bat off his shoulder. “But sure, I’m sure Arthur wouldn’t mind missing an eye.” He started to stalk towards said blonde. 

Alfred immediately put himself between Allen and Arthur. “Don’t even think about it.” 

“Oh? Protecting your boyfriend?” Allen taunted. A curse barely missed him, blasting a hole in the wall. 

“He is not my boyfriend and I suggest you go back to your own world,” Arthur snapped. 

“Yeah, he’s not my boyfriend,” Alfred echoed, a scowl on his face. “He’s like… My weird uncle or something.” 

Allen snorted. “Sure. But you act like we’re the only ones here. Like we didn’t bring  _ backup _ .”

When two more people strode into the conference hall, Feli swore under his breath. Luciano spotted him immediately and smiled, wearing the same calm expression as always. Kiku visibly paled as he saw Kuro. Kuro locked eyes with him and scoffed, scowling. 

“Ie,” Kiku whispered, standing up nervously as anxiety flooded through him, making his knees feel weak. Feli reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his jacket, his eyes still focused on Luciano. 

Alfred was glaring at the four of them. “What the hell do you guys want?” 

Allen tapped his nose mockingly. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re taking your world. And you either die or surrender.” 

“You are not taking anything,” Kiku spoke up, eyebrows furrowing. “This is our world to take care of. You would ruin it.”

“Ja. Now get out before we make you,” Ludwig agreed, also standing up with a steely expression.

Oliver giggled. “And what makes you think you could do that?” 

“There’s only four of you,” Gilbert yelled. “So that’s not smart, first of all. Second-ow!”

“Bruder,” Ludwig chided. 

Luciano tutted, shaking his head. “I see you’re just as… Difficult as your counterpart,” he mused. He had taken his knife off his belt and was twirling it absentmindedly while he gazed at Ludwig. “Am I gonna have to teach you a lesson too?”

Ludwig tensed, eyes narrowing. “What does that even mean?”

  
Luciano’s soft smile grew into a grin. “Don’t play dumb,  _ bello. _ ”

Ludwig immediately became defensive. “You have no right to call me that. Only one person does and you’re not him,” He snarled. 

“Ludwig,” Roderich hissed from where he was trying to hide behind his chair. “You’ve seen the other you, ja?” 

“Lutz isn’t me, Roderich,” Ludwig glared at him. 

Gilbert knelt beside the Austrian. “Just stay down,” He murmured, patting Roderich’s shoulder softly before straightening back up. 

“I didn’t expect my 1p to be such a coward,” Kuro grumbled, crossing his arms. 

“I…” Kiku hesitated, looking uncertain. 

“Leave them alone!” Feli cut in. “You’re the cowards!” 

“This is getting dull,” Oliver groaned. “I have baking to do. Can we hurry this up, please?” 

“Feliciano, run,” Ludwig ordered, not taking his eyes off of Luciano. Kiku started to unsheath his katana as he prepared to fight. 

“Cosa? I’m not going to leave you! I can fight too!” Feli put his hands up. He’d normally run away from any fight he could, but he couldn’t just let his friends get hurt. 

“That is an order! Take Roderich and Romano with you,” Ludwig said firmly. 

“He can try to drag me out with his bare hands, potato bastard! I’m fighting!” Romano protested, clenching his hands. 

Feli bit his lip, but he really couldn’t argue with Ludwig, so he grabbed Romano’s wrist and tugged him towards the back door of the conference room before his brother could protest. Roderich ducked under the table and followed after them. Feli heard a gunshot, then what sounded like steel hitting steel, and he winced, keeping his head down as he ran. 

“KEEP RUNNING!” Kiku’s voice rang out before the sound of the doors closing followed his voice.

“Feli! Vene, let go!” Romano yelled, eyes blazing. “I need to go back!”

“We can’t go back!” Feli shouted. 

“Ja, we should always listen to Ludwig,” Roderich huffed as he ran behind them. “He’s always been the best at strategizing.” 

“Wait!” A voice called, rapid footsteps rushing after them. Feli reluctantly looked over his shoulder. Yao was there, breathing heavily as he struggled to keep up but looking determined as he ran.

"Yao? What's going on in there?" Feli shouted over the distant noise.

Yao caught up. “Aiyah, I don’t know! Ivan shoved me out of the room before I could even process it!” He called back. 

"We can't worry about that now," Roderich cut in, shoving past Feli and Romano. "We have to get out of here."

Romano was trying to struggle free from Feli’s iron grip. “I’m not leaving the tomato bastard behind!” He snapped, still trying to break free with renewed determination. “So  _ let me go! _ ”

"Fratello," Feli started, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "This is what Antonio would want you to do." 

Romano’s breath hitched and he went silent for a moment. “I don’t want to be a coward anymore, Vene. I don’t want to keep running,” He mumbled. 

“Trust me, neither do the rest of us, aru,” Yao said. “Except maybe Roderich.”

Roderich scowled at him. "I'm just doing what Ludwig told us to do." 

"He's right," Feli sighed. "We have to get out. There has to be something left."

Romano opened his mouth to reply but that was cut off and turned a yelp as a knife whistled past and embedded itself into a wall, cutting a slice in the brunette’s sleeve as well as cutting his skin. “ _ Che cazzo?!” _

"Aww, leaving so soon?" Luciano's voice drifted down the hallway. "That's no way to treat your guests." 

"You're not  _ guests _ ," Feli huffed. 

“Fratello, don’t argue. Just keep going,” Romano growled, free hand over his bicep and covering the cut. 

“Just ignore,” Yao agreed, starting to pick his pace up. 

As he ran, Feli glanced over at Romano's arm and winced. "Are you okay? That looks pretty bad."

“I’m fine,” Romano growled. “Not like he actually stabbed me.” He ignored the pain flooding through it as well as the blood seeping through his fingers. 

Feli frowned. "It could still be a deep cut. Plus you never know what kind of cheap tricks that  _ bastardo  _ has up his sleeve."

“Shut up and keep running. I’m fine.”

Yao saw a glimpse of the cut through Romano’s fingers as they neared the door, noticing the unnaturally pale skin around it, and scowled. “Fine, my ass.”

When they were finally out in the back alley behind the building, Feli grabbed Romano's other shoulder and forced him to stay still. "Let me see it."

Romano made a whining noise and squirmed. “Vene, that hurts!” He yelped, sounding angry when he wasn’t. “Let go!” He glared, tears starting to gather in his eyes.

Feli paled when he finally managed to pry Romano's hand away from the wound. "Dio mio- This is really bad." 

“It’s not,” Romano scowled. “It’s really not.”

“Bullshit,” Yao grumbled. “That is not natural.”

"The blade must've been poisoned," Roderich murmured, staring at Romano's arm in horror. 

“No shit, Mr. Piano Man!” Romano snapped before wincing. “Figlio di puttana.”

"Roma, calm down," Feli urged him. Worry was clear on his face. "Just try to breathe." 

"Here," Roderich said, shrugging his jacket off and handing it to Feli. "You can use this to wrap the wound." Feli nodded solemnly, taking the jacket from him. 

“I’m breathing just fine,” Romano grumbled, a dazed look starting to overtake his gaze. “I just… have a small headache.” 

"We have to get help," Feli exclaimed. 

"Where can we go?" Roderich asked quietly. 

“Renato,” Romano perked up. “The micronations didn’t try to break in this time. No doubt he’s home.”

“You really think Seborga can help?” Yao asked incredulously. 

“His name is Renato, you asshole.” Romano huffed. “The micronations are unnoticeable enough, they can hide us easily.”

“Then we should probably start moving before you pass out or something,” Yao said firmly. 

"We can carry you, fratello," Feli offered, still looking very concerned. 

“I’m not weak,” Romano countered. He started to stand up before yelping as his legs gave out from under him. “Well. There goes that idea.”

"Come on," Roderich sighed, putting an arm around Romano. Feli held up his other side. "Do you know where Renato is?"

“He’s normally with Feli and I. Let’s head there first,” Romano said. He looked paler than before, eyes slightly glazed over. 

"Just hold on," Feli mumbled. "Everything will be okay."

“Yeah, yeah,” Romano said breathlessly, his curl dropping over his eyes as he lowered his head to stop the oncoming nausea. 

Between the three of them, they managed to drag Romano to their house. Feli shifted his grip on his brother to knock on the front door as hard as he could. "Renato?" 

The door was flung open. “Dio mio! I’ve been waiting for hours!” Renato cried, eyes wide. “Is everything alright?! What’s wrong with fratello?” He ushered everyone inside. 

"The…  _ Others  _ attacked," Roderich explained, shutting the door behind them.

“That’s why you guys took so long,” Renato looked worried. “Is anyone hurt?”

"Fratello," Feli breathed, worn out from dragging Romano for blocks. "Luciano cut him. We think the knife was poisoned."

Renato swore loudly. “I wish David were here. He’d know what it is,” He muttered bitterly.

"We think everyone else is still inside the meeting hall," Roderich mumbled. "Ludwig, Elizaveta…" He swallowed. "Gilbert."

“We get it, you’re gay,” Yao deadpanned as he disinfected Romano’s wound. Renato snorted, shaking his head. 

Roderich scoffed, shooting Yao a dirty look. "This is serious. They're all in danger."

“You think I don’t know that?” Yao glared. “I’m old, not senile.”

“I’d say you’re pretty fuckin’ senile,” Romano mumbled deliriously. Yao made a noise of protest.

"Shh, Roma," Feli murmured, taking the antiseptic Renato handed to him. "Don't speak."

“Even delirious, he can insult someone,” Renato mused as he made sure Romano was comfortable. “But the fever’s starting to hit.”

"We need to figure out what was on that blade," Roderich said under his breath. 

"We just need to make sure Roma is okay," Feli replied, focused on cleaning the blood off Romano's arm. 

“Signore Edelstein, can you hand me my phone?” Renato asked. Roderich grabbed the phone off the coffee table and passed it to him. 

Renato pulled up a contact and called them, pacing quietly. It rang a few times before a loud voice came through the speakers.  _ “Oi, Ren! How ya going?” _

Renato smiled. “Ciao, David. It’s been a bit rough on my end,” He said. “I do hope you’re doing better than me, amico!”

_ “Somethin’ wrong, mate?”  _ David asked. 

Renato laughed nervously. “...Possibilmente.”

_ “What’s goin’ on? You’re not gettin’ in any trouble, are ya?” _

“What is that supposed to mean…?”

David snickered.  _ “You know what I mean, mate.” _

Renato’s whole face flushed red. “ _ David!  _ Chiudi la bocca! This is important!”

_ “Sorry, sorry. What’s happening? You need me to come fight someone?” _

“Fight my soul, more like,” Renato mumbled under his breath. “But no, amico. The ones from the other side somehow got here and nations are trapped in the meeting room. My brothers, Roderich, and Yao got away, but…” He trailed off.

_ “Fuck me dead,”  _ David gasped.  _ “Are you okay?” _

“I swear, your curses get stranger every day,” Renato said. “I’ve been home for hours so I’m fine. It’s… Romano.”

_ “Those dickheads,”  _ David grumbled. 

“They poisoned him.”

_ “You need me to come to your place?” _

“Por favore, amico?”

_ “No sweat.” _

“Grazie! Grazie, David! I really owe you one!”

_ “Nah, you don’t owe me a thing, mate. Be right over.”  _ With that, David hung up. 

“Is he coming over?” Feli asked. 

Renato smiled, eyes shining. “Si! We’ve got our help on the way!”

“What exactly is he going to do?” Roderich asked. “He isn’t a doctor.” 

“He was raised by Jett, whose country in itself has about 23 of the world’s most dangerous snakes. I’d say we’re in good hands,” Renato said flatly before clapping his hands together, causing Yao to jump at the sudden noise. 

“Ugh, snakes,” Feli mumbled, shivering a bit at the thought. He met Romano’s unfocused eyes and forced a small smile. “How are you feeling, fratello?” Romano let out a pained groan before closing his eyes. Feli gulped. “I hope he gets here soon.” 

“We should try to contact the others,” Roderich said. 

“If you want to try Gilbert, be my guest,” Yao said as he wrung out a wet cloth soaked in cold water. 

Roderich pulled his phone from his pocket and called Gilbert’s number, biting his lower lip hard. It rang several times, then played Gilbert’s stupid voicemail prompt, which made Roderich roll his eyes despite everything. “No luck.” 

“Try again,” Yao said.

Roderich heaved a sigh but did as Yao told him. This time, it rang four or five times before the ringtone cut out abruptly. Roderich raised an eyebrow. “Hallo? Gilbert?” 

“Roddy,” Gilbert’s voice breathed a soft sigh of relief, barely louder than a whisper. “Danke Gott, you all got out safely. Are you all far from the meeting place? Please tell me you are.”

“We’re fine, we’re at Feliciano’s house. What is going on? Are you alright?” Roderich was relieved to hear Gilbert’s voice, but his hushed, panicked tone was definitely concerning. Gilbert never panicked. 

“I… I don’t even know. I think I’m bleeding somewhere but I don’t know,” Gilbert said. “Eliza kinda shoved me in a closet and then locked it.”

“What happened after we left?” 

“Fighting. So much blood. I think my hair’s stained from it. I don't know who went down first but before I was shoved into the closet, I saw Luciano almost get shot by Tino before Kuro took down Kiku.”

Roderich winced. “What about Ludwig and Eliza? Are they alright?”    
  
“Wait, what did he say about Kiku?” Feli interrupted, looking up at Roderich with a concerned expression. “Is he okay?”

Gilbert choked on a sob. “I-I lost West in the chaos, I didn't even see him and he's almost as tall as Berwald. I don't know anything about Eliza after she shoved me inside the closet. I just… I don't know, Roddy. I don't know.”

“Gil, beruhige dich. It will be okay. They’re both so strong. I know they won’t go down without a fight. Do you know if-” Roderich was cut off by Feli suddenly swiping the phone out of his hand. “Feli, what are you doing?”    
  
“Gilbert!” Feli practically yelled into the receiver. “What happened to Kiku? Where’s Ludwig? A-Are they okay?” 

“Feli, the awesome me is not feeling very awesome. I can't even give a straight answer much less see straight,” Gilbert said gently. “So I don't know. I'm sorry.”

“You said you saw Kiku,” Feli continued, starting to get hysterical. “You saw him, si?”

“Ja. But only for a few seconds. He was wounded but going strong before Kuro, ah, managed to pin him down,” Gilbert answered.

Feli’s breath caught in his throat. “Cosa?!”    
  
“Feliciano,” Roderich cut in, taking his phone out of Feli’s hands. “Please, control yourself. This is not the time to panic.” 

“I'm gonna try and break out,” Gilbert declared suddenly. “I refuse to bleed out in a closet.” There were sounds of fabric shifting, signaling that the albino was standing up.

“Please be careful,” Roderich whispered. “I…” He shook his head. “Just don’t do anything stupid.” 

“I'm breaking a window.”

“Viel Glück.” 

There was the sound of glass shattering before the phone went silent as the line went dead.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is one hell of a mess so bear with me here. enjoy!

  
  
  


**Chapter 1**

It was Feli’s turn to keep watch of the northern wall, so he was crouched in the tiny guard station with one of the old rifles they’d found in the armory, staring out at the empty field in front of him. Everything was quiet, had been quiet for a few months, but they couldn’t let their guard down now. 

There was the sound of grass shifting behind Feli, signaling that someone was coming. He whipped around, pointing his rifle out into the field and peering through the sight, but it was badly cracked and he really couldn’t make anything out in the dark. His pulse started to quicken. Why did this have to happen on his shift? 

“Nice to know you’re on your guard, fratellino,” Romano’s voice sounded from beside him now. “I’m relieved to know that potato bastard taught you something.”

Feli startled at the sound of his brother’s voice, his grip on the rifle faltering. He turned to glare at Romano. “What are you doing? It’s not your turn.” 

“I’m allowed to be up and moving, Vene. And I was getting sick of the albino’s whining,” Romano said, huffing. “Any sign of anything other than me?”

Feli pouted. “Don’t call him that. Gilbert is our friend.” He turned back to look out at the field. “And no, grazie for asking.” 

“I’ll call him what I want. Especially because he insists on walking up to me on my blind side,” Romano grumbled as he knelt beside his brother. “And I thought you could use some company.”

Feli heaved a sigh, slouching against the wall. “Grazie. Things have just been… Really tough. I’d do anything to hear from Antonio or Elizaveta… Or Ludwig and Kiku.” 

“I’m sure we all would,” Romano murmured softly, looking out at the field. It was hard to tell he was half blind, with the way he stared out at the scene in front of him. “I don’t like all the silence lately. Thought these fuckers would come looking for us more.”

“I know,” Feli sighed. “They were relentless for a while. There’s no way they’ve just given up.” 

“Definitely,” Romano huffed. He did another once over the field, eyes scanning the expanse. He did a double take, noticing something that didn’t seem quite right and squinting at it. 

Feli’s breath hitched and he took aim. “What is that?” 

“Don’t know. But stay on guard,” Romano took out the small handgun he kept tucked in his jacket. “Fuck, it’s on my blind side. I can’t see shit.”

“Just stay down,” Feli whispered. He curled his finger around the trigger, ready to shoot as soon as whatever it was emerged from the tall grass- 

A figure stepped into the small clearing around the bunker, his face familiar even in the low light of the moon, and Feli gasped so violently he almost choked. “I-Is that… Antonio?!”

Romano’s eyes widened and his stance faltered before he shook his head. “It can’t be. He was captured,” He whispered, voice choked up. “Because I left him behind.”

“No, no, look!” Feli grabbed Romano’s collar and pulled him to the small window, pointing at the person in the field. “He’s wearing his old uniform. He’s still got that tie you got him, remember?” 

“I…” Romano couldn’t think of what to say, his good eye scanning over the figure warily. “I don’t know.”

Suddenly, whoever it was tensed up, looking around frantically. “Quién está ahí? Show yourself!” 

Feli was practically bouncing up and down with excitement at this point. “It’s him. It’s really him!”

“Feli, shh,” Romano hushed. “Wait a couple minutes.”

“Seriously, come out,” the person in the field shouted, his voice shaking. “I’m armed!” He pulled a small pistol from his belt, pointing it at nothing in particular. 

Romano couldn’t suppress his soft chuckle. “I hate him,” He mumbled before raising his voice just to fuck with the person. “So are we, dumbass!”

The person yelped, nearly tripping over his own feet before regaining his balance and glaring in the general direction of the bunker, though he still probably couldn’t see much. “Who said that? Come out and face me!” 

Romano was struggling to hide a smile. “Grass spirits!”

Everything was silent for a minute. “Hey, wait a second. I know that voice.” 

“Shit, I’ve been caught,” Romano whispered to Feli, laughing quietly. 

Feli pouted at him. “Go talk to him, fratello. I know he’ll be happy to see you.” 

“No, I’ll give him a second,” Romano said. “See if he’s truly figured it out. Toni isn’t that much of a dumbass.”

“You’re so mean,” Feli griped. 

“Where have I heard that… Where is it coming from?” The man heaved a sigh, clearly exhausted, and put his gun back in his belt. “I must be hearing things. There’s no way it could be him.” He covered his face with his hands and slowly sank down into the grass. 

Feli frowned. “Roma. Go talk to him. He probably thinks you’re dead.” 

“In my case, I should be,” Romano said softly as he started to quietly and discreetly trek over to the man, making no noise at all. He knelt in front of the male, still silent. “You really are a dumbass, Antonio.”

Antonio jolted at the sound of his voice, scrambling back in the dirt. “Dios mío! Who-” He reached for his gun, but stopped short. He squinted in the low light, trying to make out who was in front of him, and then gasped softly. “Lo… Lovino?” 

“What the fuck am I, a ghost?” Romano drawled calmly, a smirk quirking up the corners of his lips. “I mean I could be and I’m just following you forever until someone dies.”

Antonio was stock-still for a moment before he threw himself at Romano, pulling him into a crushing hug. “Maldito  _ idiota-  _ where have you been?! A-Are you okay?” 

“Toni, amore, I’d answer your questions if I could fucking  _ breathe _ ,” Romano replied.

“No, no, no, I’m never letting you go again,” Antonio murmured into Romano’s shirt. “Oh my God.” 

“I’ve been hiding,  _ bastardo _ . Like I’m supposed to,” Romano huffed. “And I’m fine. Now, let me breathe, goddamnit.”

Antonio finally let go, sitting back on his heels. He took a moment to just stare at Romano intently, his eyes wide and shining, before he grabbed the sides of Romano’s face and smashed their lips together. Feli, who was still watching from the guard tower, let out a noise of surprise and ducked out of sight. 

Romano certainly wasn’t expecting the kiss either. His eyes widened and he froze before melting into it. He pulled back after a few minutes. “ _ Fuck you and your fucking kisses, Spagna. _ ”

“Lovi,” Antonio breathed. His eyes were watery, but he had a huge smile on his face. “I’ve thought about you every day since you left. I could never stop worrying about you. I-I’m so glad you’re alive.” 

Romano rolled his eyes but his gaze was fond. “We’ve been out too long, follow me,” He said as he stood. He whistled. “Switching shifts, go and eat, idiota!” He yelled, seemingly to nowhere. 

“Who are you talking to?” Antonio asked in a hushed voice. 

Romano lightly hit him on the back of the head as he started walking through the grass. “Follow me and hurry up.” Antonio jogged after him, unable to wipe the smile off his face. 

They made it to one of the doors to the bunker. A small slot appeared in the steel. “Romano? Who is that?” Roderich asked from the inside. 

“Just open the fucking door,” Romano sighed. “Has your creature stopped whining?”

Roderich glared at him through the small opening. “You really aren’t making me want to let you in.” 

“Let them in!” Feli’s excited voice came. “Pleeeaaase, Roderich, let them in!” 

Antonio’s eyes widened. “Is that Feliciano?”

“No, it’s his look-a-like,” Romano said sarcastically. 

Roderich grumbled something about  _ “proper protocol”  _ and  _ “no respect”  _ and then the heavy door slid open. Feli practically launched himself at Antonio, nearly tackling him to the ground. “Toni!” 

“Feli! I’m so glad you’re okay!” Antonio held Feli tightly, tears gathering in his eyes again. “I can’t believe you two have been here all this time!” 

“There’s more than just us, tomato bastard,” Romano scowled and walked inside, slipping his jacket off before going to take off the contact covering his blind eye as he muttered and grumbled about the feeling of it. 

“Dios mío, Vene, you’ve gotta tell me everything,” Antonio said, still carrying Feli like he used to do when they were kids. 

“So do you! Where have you been? We thought you were dead! Lovi cried forever!” Roderich snickered at that as he shut and locked the door. 

“No fucking proof, Vene! You’ve got no proof!” Romano yelled from the bathroom. “Stop lying!”

“I think that’s proof,” Feli snickered. 

“Danke Gott you’re here, Antonio,” Roderich said, offering him a smile. “That little brat has been driving me up the walls.” 

“Who else is here?” Antonio asked, glancing around the room.

Romano came back over, his left eye grey and unseeing. “We’ve got Gilbert, Alfred, and literally all of the micronations except for… Wendy and Erland, David’s little sister and Peter's brother.”

Antonio frowned. “I hope they're okay. Wendy was so small last time I saw her and Erland seemed upset.” 

“They’ll be okay! Those Australians are tough,” Feli chimed in, hopping down onto the floor. "And so's Erland!" 

“Wait, did you say Gilbert was here?” 

As if on cue, Gilbert slid down on a fire pole. “The awesome me was summoned?” He declared, walking over and Romano flinched. 

“Beilschmidt, the next time you walk up on this side, I’m shanking you,” Romano growled at him. 

“Jeez, I’m sorry! Calm down,” Gilbert protested before yelping as Romano hit him on the back of the head. 

“Hijo de puta,” Antonio chuckled, a huge grin on his face. “Gilbert!” 

“Toni!” Gilbert cried, wrapping the Spaniard in a bone crushing hug as he smiled happily. “Mein Gott! How’ve you been? Where the fuck even were you?! We were so worried! Romano cried for hours when he didn’t see any sign of you!” 

Antonio burst out laughing, hugging Gilbert back. “So I’ve heard. I got run out of my house a couple months ago. I’ve just been trying to find anyone who might be left. It’s so good to see you, mi amigo.” 

“Roma and I could hardly even move, Freund! Like, Yao and Feli were doing all the scouting while David worked with Romano and Roderich made sure I didn’t die!” Gilbert said, letting go so he could make finger guns at the other male. 

“What happened to you two? I never thought you’d sit anything out, Gilbert,” Antonio teased, though there was a hint of worry in his voice. 

“Oh, I was shoved into a closet by Eliza, close to bleeding out, and broke out through a window after talking with Roddy here,” Gilbert said brightly, hands on his hips. “I dragged myself to their house!” Romano hesitated, wary flashing in his good eye. 

Antonio heaved a sigh. “Just like the old days, huh?” 

Roderich cleared his throat before anyone could reply. “I hate to break this up, but we do have to change posts.” 

“I’ll go drag Alfred out of bed!” Gilbert declared before darting off to who knows where. A few minutes later, a yell of surprise reached them followed by what sounded like Gilbert yelling in German. 

When Alfred started shouting back even louder, Antonio snickered. “You know, I can’t say I completely missed that guy. He can be a handful.” 

“He’s a little hot-headed, but he’s a hard worker,” Roderich admitted. “We’ve been lucky to have him.” 

“Oh! Toni! You must be starving!” Feli gasped, grabbing onto Antonio’s arm. “It’s my turn in the mess! Andiamo!” He started tugging Antonio down the hall enthusiastically, seeming more like his old self now than he had in almost a year. 

There was a knock at the door. “Roderich! Switching shifts, right?” A voice said from outside. “Aiyah, it’s so cold!”

“Let Yao in. I’ll take the west shift for the rest of the night,” Romano sighed. He knew he hadn’t slept in over eighteen hours but he wasn’t about to let that stop him.

“Lovi, wait!” Antonio called right before Feli pulled him around the corner. “I’ll catch up with you, okay?” 

“I’m blind, not defenseless, idiota!” Romano yelled back as he dragged the door open, letting Yao inside before storming out after pulling his jacket and gloves on. 

Roderich rolled his eyes. “He gets more insufferable every day.” 

“I could say the same about everyone here,” Yao deadpanned. 

“What about everyone?” Alfred’s sleepy voice came from down the other hall. 

“Wait, did Lovi say  _ blind?”  _ Antonio asked at the same time just as Feli shoved him into the kitchen.

Yao rolled his eyes. “Go take your shift, boy,” He ordered Alfred, shoving the American’s coat into his arms. 

“Hey, don’t call me that,” Alfred griped, pulling his jacket on. 

Roderich rolled his eyes again. “Just go.” Alfred grumbled something under his breath as he shouldered past the two of them and out the door. Once he was gone, Roderich turned to Yao. “I’m guessing you didn’t see anything?” 

“If I did, I would’ve attacked,” Yao huffed. “I see we collected the Spaniard?”

“Ja, and now I’m afraid Romano will be even more obnoxious than he already was.” 

“Fear Gilbert, not the Italian.”

Roderich frowned. “Why should I fear Gilbert? He pulls his weight.”

“If Francis were here, we’d never get any sleep,” Yao mumbled. “And can we blame Romano? He is almost blind.”

“As nice as it would be to know Francis is safe, it would definitely be best if he wasn’t here. Those three should never be allowed in the same place.” Roderich chose to ignore Yao’s comment about Romano. “I’m going to go check the scanners to see if anyone is putting out any signals.” He turned on his heel and left, making it clear the conversation was over. 

Yao huffed before going to join Feli and Antonio in the kitchen. “Mind if I help?”

Antonio smiled at the sight of him. “Hola, Yao! It’s good to see you.” 

“There isn’t much to help with,” Feli said with a pout. “It isn’t like we can actually cook much. We don’t even have tomatoes.” He frowned at the pot full of plain noodles on the stove in front of him. 

“Ni-hao, Antonio,” Yao greeted calmly. “While you wait, I could show Antonio around. So, he doesn’t get lost if he wakes up in the middle of the night.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Antonio agreed. He gave Feli a small hug before following Yao out of the kitchen, leaving the Italian alone to complain about the lack of tomatoes to no one.

Yao led him through the bunker. “You’re wondering why Romano flinched when Gilbert walked up on his left side, shi?” He asked after a few minutes of a silence.

“I did hear Lovi mention something about being blind,” Antonio mused quietly. “Did something happen to him?” 

“Well, when we left, Luciano almost got us and threw a knife. It cut Romano’s bicep before hitting the wall. When we got to an alley, he was already disoriented, nauseous, and with a headache. In other words, the blade was poisoned and hadn’t we called for David, we probably could’ve lost him even if he could come back alive,” Yao explained. “The remnants left in his bloodstream make him restless and also caused him to lose sight in his left eye.” 

Antonio blinked a few times, trying to take in everything Yao had just said. “Wow. I… Had no idea.” He sighed heavily. “This is my fault. I should have gone after him. Maybe I could have protected him.” 

“You’re alright, Antonio. We handled it decently for panicking nations.”

“David saved your asses,” Renato said as he walked past. “Hey, Toni-wait, Toni?!”

Antonio looked up from his feet. “Renato?” He beamed at him, his normal bright demeanor returning. “It’s been so long!” 

Renato smiled back. “It has, hasn’t it? You vanished off the face of the Earth, amico!”

“Ah, I know,” Antonio said, looking a little sheepish. “I’ve been on the run for a few months. I’m so glad I stumbled onto this place.” He thought for a second. “How are David and Morro?” 

“I’ve prevented two murders. Both upon my own self control,” Renato said. “They haven’t stopped arguing and it’s getting on my nerves.” He smiled sweetly, the small block of wood in his hands snapping half.

“Really? I always thought you three got along well,” Antonio said in a slightly teasing voice. 

“Right now, I’m going the least bit insane with their yelling,” Renato said, voice even more sickly sweet as another block of wood broke. 

“There’s no shame in taking some time to yourself, amigo,” Antonio said, patting Renato on the shoulder. “Now that I’m here I can pick up some of the extra work.” 

“Give me a second,” Renato handed three of the broken halves before going upstairs with the fourth. 

“Don’t kill them!” Yao yelled. 

“They can’t die anyway!”

“Aiyah…”

“You know, I really thought those three had it all worked out,” Antonio said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But I guess nobody does anymore.”

“They’re pining,” Yao said. “And they don’t know how to deal with it. It’s unbelievable.” 

  
“I know a thing or two about that, amigo,” Antonio laughed. 

“It’s Romano, isn’t it?” Yao raised an eyebrow.

“I always hid how I felt about him because I thought he and Feli saw me as their big brother,” Antonio admitted. “But Lovi’s terrible at hiding his feelings. I just didn’t want to ruin anything by taking the chance, even when I knew he felt the same way.” He sighed, leaning against the wall. “He’s angry at me for something. Maybe it’s because I didn’t go after him that day.”

“He’s been stressed a lot lately. Looking everywhere for anyone as much as Roderich disagrees,” Yao said. “But he’s trying. If you want to go find the west post you can. He’ll be there for the night.”

“I should really get something to eat first. It’s been a while.” 

“Aiyah! How long have you not eaten, stupid boy?!”

Antonio couldn’t help snickering. “Relax, mi amigo. Only a day or two. I’d just hate to keep Feli waiting. You know how he gets about his cooking.” 

Yao scowled. “Stupid boy. Go eat.”

“Thank you for everything, Yao. I’m glad you’re okay.” Antonio flashed Yao a smile before heading back towards the kitchen. Yao rolled his eyes before yelping as David came barreling down the stairs, looking fearful as Renato followed with the wood raised over his head. 

“Oi, what gives, mate?” David shouted, barely skidding to a stop before he collided with the wall across from the stairs. “Careful with that!” Renato yelled something heatedly in Italian, still chasing. “It was my turn, Ren! Morro’s being a wanker!” 

Renato swept David’s feet out from under him in a great show of strength, pinning the Australian down. “The next time you two fight over something as stupid as that, you will be facing my knife rather than a block of wood,” He snapped. His hair had fluffed up in his running and his eyes blazed with anger and annoyance.

David blinked up at him, not even seeming affected by the fall. A slight blush was dusting his cheeks, which was rare for him. “Sorry,” he mumbled. 

Renato straightened, flipping the wood in his hand. He gave David a sweet smile. “Grazie,” He said before walking away. David pushed himself into a sitting position, watching Renato go with wide eyes. 

“That was hot,” Morro said from where he peeked over the metal railing of the stairs. 

“Aiyah,” Yao mumbled, rolling his eyes and walking away. 

“Ren proved he’s probably stronger than both of us,” Morro said to David. 

“Bugger off,” David huffed. “We don’t have a chance. We keep fuckin’ it up.” 

“Who says we don’t have a chance? We can attempt to get along.”

  
“You know what I mean,” David mumbled, getting to his feet. 

“Still, dude,” Morro said. “We just gotta try. So we might have a chance with him.”

David sighed. “I really hope so, mate.” 

  
  


Romano was sitting at his post, staring into the distance as the sun started to rise and making the sky turning a light ocean blue mixed with purple with stars still twinkling in the sky. Antonio peeked into the small guard station, smiling naturally at the sight of Romano. “Buenos dias, Lovi,” he greeted quietly, not wanting to startle him. 

“Walk up on my right side, Toni,” Romano said. “I’m blind on my left.” He hugged his knees to his chest slightly. 

Antonio listened without a second thought, coming up on Romano’s right side and sitting next to him. He just looked out the small window at the horizon for a few moments before turning to Romano. “I really did miss you, Lovi.” 

“Considering the way you kissed me, I’d say so,” Romano’s voice was tired and he looked exhausted. 

“I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything,” Antonio said softly. “I was just overwhelmed. I should have controlled myself better.” 

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable, tomato bastard,” Romano scrunched up his nose. “I liked the kiss.” 

Antonio’s eyes were wide. “You did?” 

“Si. I wouldn’t have kissed back, idiota,” Romano snorted before yawning. 

“You’ve been out here for a while,” Antonio chuckled. “You should get some rest.”

“I haven’t slept in eighteen hours. I’m fine,” Romano said. He noticed something stalking towards the post in the grass. His good eye narrowed as he subtly shifted to pull out his gun. “If it moves to my blind side, keep watch.” Antonio just nodded, pulling out his own gun. 

Finally, someone emerged from the brush. Romano shot forward and barreled into them with a battle cry sounding yell. They wrestled in the grass before the person pinned Romano down after surprising him on his blind side. 

“Drop your weapon!” They shouted, easily keeping him down with one knee on his chest. “You’re lucky I don’t-” Their eyes widened, and they straightened up a little bit. “Romano?” 

Romano was squirming valiantly, pain flashing in his gaze slightly. “Get. Off,” He snarled. 

The person flinched, quickly standing up. “I’m sorry. I thought you were one of them for a second. Here.” They offered him a hand, smiling softly. 

“Jesus Christ, Elizaveta,” Romano mumbled. “Don’t sneak through the grass like a fucking snake.” He accepted the hand. 

Elizaveta burst out laughing. “Is that what you’re calling it? I think you’re just mad I got the jump on you.” She pulled him into a side hug. “What are you doing all the way out here?”

Antonio poked his head out from the guard station. “Elizaveta?” 

She glanced over towards Antonio and her eyes lit up. “Oh! You’re both here!” 

“Yeah, and I think Alfred is lurking somewhere,” Romano waved his hand dismissively. “And you didn’t get the jump on me, I’m blind on my left side, Eliza. I didn’t see you.”

Elizaveta covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Maybe you should get an eyepatch or something. Really complete the post-apocalyptic look.” 

Romano kicked her and faced her with a huff, his left eye gray. “I don’t think an eyepatch is needed, amica. But we’re not the only ones out here.” 

“Really? How many have you got in this little shack?” She gestured vaguely to the bunker. 

“Come inside, you two,” Antonio called. “It isn’t safe to be out in the open.” 

“Tell that to the fucking American who thinks he can fight the sun,” Romano snapped as they headed over. 

“Same old Alfred, huh?” Elizaveta asked. 

“Unfortunately,” Romano huffed as they walked to the bunker door. He knocked. “Oi, can you open the door? We’ve got someone you might want to see.”

“You’ve already found another straggler?” Roderich’s voice came through the door. 

Elizaveta gasped softly. “Is that Roderich?” 

“Who is it?” Roderich asked. 

“Open the door and see.”

After a minute, the massive door slid open. Roderich was standing there, looking tired and disheveled, but he immediately perked up when he saw Elizaveta. “Mein Gott. Eliza?” 

Elizaveta let out a noise somewhere between a laugh and a shriek and pulled Roderich into a bear hug. “Roddy! Oh my God!” 

“Someone go get Gilbert,” Roderich wheezed. 

“Gilbert’s here too?!” Elizaveta’s eyes were sparkling with excitement. 

A flash of white, blue, and black tackled them. “ELIZA! YOU’RE ALIVE!” A voice cried. Roderich yelped, barely managing to stay standing. 

“GILBERT!” Elizaveta shouted, wrapping her arms around both of them. “Oh my God, I was so worried about you!” 

Gilbert laughed, though it sounded shaky. “How dare you shove me in a fucking closet?” He teased happily, tears welling in his crimson eyes. 

“Hey, it seemed like a good idea,” Elizaveta shot back, though there was no bite to it. “You’re alive, aren’t you?” 

“It’s so good to have you back, Eliza,” Roderich gasped when she finally loosened her grip on him the slightest bit. Gilbert made a soft noise of happiness and buried his face in her shoulder, hugging her even tighter. 

Elizaveta stifled a snicker, knowing Gilbert was in a sensitive place right now. “Aww, Gil, did you miss me that much?” 

“Shut up,” Gilbert mumbled into the fabric of her clothing. “Let me be happy since you shoved me in a closet.”

“You’re welcome.” She patted him on the head a few times. Roderich smiled at the sight. 

“Hopefully more people will just keep showing up right outside,” Antonio laughed. Romano chuckled slightly.

“I broke out of that closet and dragged myself all the way to Feli on my own. You’ve done nothing,” Gilbert pouted at Elizaveta. 

“You almost bled out on the way there too,” Romano added. 

Elizaveta bit her lip. “Gosh, you really can’t stay out of trouble without me around, can you?” She was trying to tease him like she always did, but there was a hint of guilt in her voice. 

Gilbert playfully punched her shoulder. “But, hey! I’m alive! And so are you and Roddy! That’s what’s important!” He spun around in a circle, smiling. 

She couldn’t help smiling. “I don’t know how you two have managed this long without me.” 

“Trust me, we don’t know either.”

"Is Feliciano here too?" Elizaveta asked. 

“You act like Romano and Feli would ever be separated after the little shit over there almost died,” Gilbert said incredulously, gesturing to Romano. 

"Ah, you're all hopeless," Elizaveta laughed. "I'm gonna have to do everything, aren't I?"

“Well, we've got the micronations helping us too!” Gilbert chirped. “So we're not  _ entirely _ hopeless.”

"Oh! There are more of you here than I thought," Elizaveta mused. 

“It's a big space,” Romano commented. “And we've still got room.”

"How did you even find this place?" 

“Feli and I know where the bunkers are,” Romano said. “We walked for hours to find a secluded one.”

"What about you?" Roderich asked. "How did you find us?" 

"I've been searching for signals being transmitted by survivors," Elizaveta explained, pulling out her phone. "I noticed something around here was emitting and I thought I would check it out." 

“Then I attacked,” Romano said. “Cause I didn't recognize her for a solid moment until she pinned me after getting me on my blind side.”

“I’m not surprised he didn’t recognize you,” Roderich laughed, reaching up to lightly touch Elizaveta’s hair, which had been cut up to her ears. 

She chuckled. “Lots of hair and fighting aren’t a good combination.” 

“Whatever! You look good!” Gilbert winked playfully and happily. “Honestly, even with long hair, you could kick my ass.”

That made Elizaveta burst out laughing. “You know I could.” She punched his shoulder playfully. 

“How did you get away, Eliza?” Gilbert asked, his smile fading. “I'm pretty sure like half the people in the meeting room went down after Kiku did.”

Her face grew solemn. “I’m not entirely sure. Ludwig and I managed to hold them back for a while, but we knew they were bringing backup, and… I decided to run. I jumped out a window and I didn’t look back.” She sounded a little remorseful. “I hope Ludwig is alright.” 

Gilbert swallowed nervously. “I agree… I didn't even get to see him before I got out. And I was on the phone with Roddy when I managed to break the window in the closet.”

Elizaveta laughed again, but it sounded a little forced. “What is it with us and windows?” 

Gilbert smiled. “We've been around each other for too long. We share a love of glass and breaking things.”

“That’s an interesting thing to bond over,” Antonio snickered. “Not that we haven’t broken plenty of things ourselves, amigo.” 

“You know it, Tonio,” Gilbert laughed brightly. “I'll go get Feli!” He rushed off. 

“It must be nice having your brothers here with you, Romano,” Elizaveta commented with a smile. 

“They both saved my ass,” Romano chuckled. “Since Renato thought to call David when I was dying and Feli was trying to keep me calm. I insulted Yao at some point.”

“You’ve insulted everyone at some point,” Elizaveta laughed. “Especially Antonio here.”    
  
“You get used to it,” Antonio told her. 

Romano rolled his eyes before kissing Antonio's cheek. “And I'm going to take a siesta. I haven't slept in eighteen hours,” He said before disappearing upstairs. 

“Get some rest, Lovi,” Antonio called after him. 

“So you finally made a move?” Elizaveta asked, one eyebrow raised. 

Antonio chuckled. “Yeah. I couldn’t help myself when I saw him. I was just so happy he was safe.”

“Hey, you’re not as bad as Roddy and Gil,” Elizaveta teased. “Being in the middle of their pining was the worst.” Roderich turned bright red, sputtering indignantly. 

“They're still pining,” Renato chimed in as he came downstairs. “Roderich refuses to make a move and Gilbert’s too cowardly to make one.”

Elizaveta cocked her head to the side. “They’re  _ still  _ not past all this?” 

“Nope,” Renato sang as Gilbert dragged Feli into the room excitedly. 

“Hey!” Roderich squeaked indignantly. “We are not pining!” 

Renato stuck his tongue out as Gilbert also made an offended noise. “I don't like the priss in that way!” He protested. 

“Keep lying to yourself,” Renato said, walking away. 

“We’re not lying!” Roderich shouted after him. He glanced at Gilbert and then turned away, flustered. 

Gilbert snorted, eyes sharp and indignant. “How do you deal with him, Feli?”

“He’s a ray of sunshine,” Feli said, smiling softly. His eyes widened when he saw Elizaveta. “Eliza?”

“Hi, Feli!” She beamed at him, laughing when he ran up to her and wrapped her in a hug. “I missed you.” 

Gilbert watched with fond eyes before his gaze flicked to Roderich softly. “I…” He hesitated for a moment, thinking up an excuse to leave the bunker. “I'm gonna go for a walk. Yeah! A walk!”

Roderich frowned. “Are you sure that’s the best idea? Someone else could be out there.” 

“I-I’m sure!” Gilbert said. “I'll be fine, Roddy! Didn't know you cared.” His voice took a teasing tone to it.

"Oh, hush," Roderich huffed. "Just be vigilant."

“I know, I know,” Gilbert said. “See ya!” He ran out into the fields. Roderich just rolled his eyes. 

“Close the door,” Yao said. “We'll know when he's back.”

  
  


Gilbert had ventured a bit of a ways away into the grass, fidgeting with his cross necklace around his neck as he was lost in thought. He didn't notice the person sneaking up on him. Suddenly, a blade was being held up against his throat. Luciano's smiling face appeared over his shoulder. "Ciao."

Gilbert froze, breath hitching as his eyes widened. “Luciano,” He said, muscles tensing. 

"Long time, no see," Luciano cooed. 

“I sure hope so,” Gilbert said. “Not like I wanted to be seen. Or found for that matter.”

“And yet here we are,” Luciano said. “Drop your weapon.” 

“I have a pocket knife. It's not even strong enough for defense,” Gilbert growled. “If I had my actual knife, I would've stabbed you by now.”

Luciano chuckled, pressing the edge of the blade against Gilbert’s skin, not hard enough to cut, but enough to keep him still. “You’re all talk. I’m surprised you’re even still around; didn’t your country dissolve decades ago?”

“I represent something else now,” Gilbert gritted out. “I just prefer to continue to go by Prussia.”

“And what do you represent? The failure of an entire nation?” Luciano said calmly.

“East Germany. I'm East Germany now.”

Luciano rolled his eyes. “The last time I checked, it was just  _ Germany.” _

“ _ Clearly _ , you've never heard of the Berlin Wall,” Gilbert snapped. He'd started sending out a distress signal from his phone which was tucked in his pocket.

“Which fell nearly fifty years ago,” Luciano singsonged. “You shouldn’t even still be  _ alive. _ ” 

“You think I don't fucking know that?!” Gilbert burst angrily.

At that, Luciano actually giggled. “Oh, did I touch a nerve?” He dug the tip of his knife into Gilbert’s neck, drawing the tiniest bit of blood. Gilbert squeezed his eyes shut, working on controlling his breathing as the hand in his pocket intensified the signal. 

Luciano’s eyes flicked down to his pocket and a cruel smirk spread across his face. “Coward. Need your friends to come save you, don’t you?” He grabbed Gilbert’s wrist and yanked his hand out of his pocket, scowling at the sight of his phone. “So pathetic.” 

Gilbert glared. “Shut the fuck up,” He said heatedly. He felt the knife travel lower, nearing his necklace. 

“Drop it, before I make you.” 

“Don't touch my necklace.”

“What, this old thing?” Luciano maneuvered the blade under the chain and swung his arm forward, snapping it like it was a piece of twine. It fell from Gilbert’s neck, disappearing into the grass. 

Gilbert’s eyes widened and he resisted the urge to kneel down and look for it as his phone slipped from his gloved hand and fell into the grass as well. His breathing started to quicken as fear trickled into his head. 

Before he could move to pick up his phone, Luciano stepped on the screen with all his weight, the surface cracking under the heel of his boot. He flashed Gilbert a dazzling smile. “Andiamo. Oliver will want to see you.” 

“Fuck you,” Gilbert spat, eyes narrowing. 

Luciano rolled his eyes. “Just as difficult as your brother.” 

“I sure hope West is difficult,” Gilbert scoffed, scowling. “Why the hell would he listen to you?”

“Anyone can be controlled with the right motivation.”

“If you hurt him, I'm going to murder you with my bare hands.”

“I’d love to see you try.” 

“I will.”

“Just move,” Luciano said through gritted teeth. 

Gilbert stumbled as he was shoved forward, reluctantly starting to walk forward. He faintly heard the clink of his necklace hitting his phone screen as he kicked it behind him before continuing to be pushed on.

  
  
  


“He’s been gone an awfully long time,” Elizaveta mused as she paced around in the guard tower. 

“I’m sure he’s alright,” Roderich sighed. “He would have sent a signal if something was wrong, or we would have heard something.” 

“I don’t know, this doesn’t feel right. Maybe we should go look for him.” 

“Send Alfred or David,” Roderich mumbled, picking at a loose thread on his jacket. Elizaveta fixed him with an intimidating frown and he withered under her gaze. “What?” 

“You can’t let your repressed feelings put Gilbert in harm’s way,” she huffed. 

There was a whistle from behind them. “Hey, can you check out a signal? It's a ways away from you guys,” Romano called. “But it's a distress signal and I think that's pretty important. Been going for a few hours.”

Elizaveta swore under her breath. “Please don’t let that be him.” She jogged out of the room, Roderich hot on her heels despite his earlier protesting. 

“He left on the north side, right?” She called over her shoulder as they descended the stairs. 

“Ja, but who knows which direction he went?” 

“It's in the north!” Romano distantly yelled. 

Elizaveta and Roderich dashed out the northern door and into the field. Elizaveta looked around wildly, clearly a little frantic. “I don’t see him anywhere around here.” 

“Let’s head towards the treeline,” Roderich suggested. 

Barely a moment later, something flashed in the field as the sinking sun caught on a piece of metal hidden in the grass. Roderich gasped, sprinting towards it, Elizaveta scrambling to follow. “What is it?” 

“It’s…” Roderich felt his heart skip a beat as he neared the glinting object. “It’s Gilbert’s necklace.”    
  


“What?!” Elizaveta skidded to a stop next to him and gasped at the sight. “Oh my God.”    
  


“He would never leave this behind,” Roderich murmured, stooping down and gently picking the necklace out of the dirt. “Something must have happened.” 

“His phone is here too…” 

“This is bad.” 

Romano looked up from where he was sitting with Antonio as they came back. “What's wrong?”

“Something happened to Gilbert,” Elizaveta announced, looking more stressed than anyone could remember seeing her. “We found his necklace and his phone broken in the clearing.” 

Antonio’s eyes went wide. “Qué?!”

“What.” Romano's eyes widened and he furrowed his eyebrows.

“He must have been the one transmitting the signal,” Roderich mumbled, looking a little pale. 

“We've got to fucking find him!” Romano said. “Before prissy here either has a heart attack or before the albino bastard's killed.”

“Shut up!” Roderich snapped, suddenly furious. “This is not a joke!” 

“I'm not joking, merda!” Romano shot back. 

“Callete, both of you,” Antonio cut in, stepping in between Roderich and Romano. “This isn’t going to get us anywhere.” 

“How are we supposed to find him? The Others have many bases,” Elizaveta murmured. 

Romano scowled. “I don't fuckin’ know.”

“We don’t have any way to track him,” Antonio mused. “There’s no telling where they might have taken him.” 

“Sheisse,” Roderich swore, turning away from the others and burying his face in his hands. “This is all my fault. If I had just talked to him, he wouldn’t have run off like that.” 

“It’s not your fault, Roddy. None of this is.” Elizaveta put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Agreed, Edelstein. I may not like you very much but even I know you're not at fault here,” Romano crossed his arms. “So don't beat yourself up, damnit.” Roderich didn’t reply. 

“Should we tell the others?” Elizaveta asked hesitantly. 

“No. That'd cause chaos,” Romano shook his head. “We just have to be careful.”

“How are we supposed to find him if it’s just the four of us?” Roderich asked, his voice barely above a mumble. 

“Let's figure that out in the morning,” Romano said. “For now, let's rest and make sure we're ready. Go upstairs.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it is three am and i am posting while vibing to Gakuen Fiesta cause i have no soul suffer with me. enjoy! (god im tired)
> 
> 誰がいますか?- Who's there? (according to some websites idk i dunno japanese)
> 
> side note: yao is brother goals tbh

  
  


**Chapter 2**

Gilbert lightly strained against his bonds as he sat in his cell, contemplating ways to escape and get out. He resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall and make his headache even worse. Luciano had dragged him all the way to Oliver and Allen, and he’d been thrown into some sort of underground dungeon. A few other cells had their doors closed too, but he hadn’t been able to see anyone when he came in. Faint singing filled the dark corridor, but it was completely quiet otherwise.

“Who's there?” Gilbert called, hoping his voice was heard. 

The singing stopped abruptly, and the ensuing silence was deafening. Finally, a familiar voice answered. “Who is asking?” 

A heartbeat of silence followed. “ _Ivan?!_ ” Gilbert's voice was shocked. 

“...Gilbert?” Ivan replied, sounding as mellow as always despite the circumstances. “Is that you?”

“Ja! Ja, it's me!” Gilbert said, a moment of happiness flooding his voice. 

“... Bruder?” Came a soft voice from down the hall. 

“West! Danke Gott!”

“When did you get here?”

“I don't really know…”

“Oh, Ludwig, I hadn’t noticed you came back,” Ivan cut in. “This one was longer, da?” 

“Seemed like an eternity,” Ludwig said. He sounded exhausted. 

“What happened?” Gilbert asked. 

“The one who looks like Feliciano comes to take him away every few days,” Ivan explained. 

“ _Fucking asshole!_ ” Gilbert yelled angrily.

“Bruder-” Ludwig started.

“Nein, West! I'm going to kill him!”

“Best of luck to you,” Ivan chirped. Even though the tone of his voice never changed, that remark somehow seemed sarcastic. 

“Stop being sarcastic, Braginski,” Gilbert huffed.

“He is not someone you should underestimate,” Ivan pointed out. “Feliciano may be weak and cowardly, but this man is not.” 

“Feli has actually been taking everything with stride,” Gilbert said. “I'd rather be on the end of Yao’s angry rants.”

Ivan went silent. “Yao?” 

“What about him?”

“He’s… Alive?” 

“Ja. As strong and kicking as ever.”

Ivan breathed out a sigh. “So he did make it. I knew he would. He is always so strong.” He knocked on the opposite wall of his cell. “Arthur, did you hear? Yao is alive.” 

“I heard, Ivan,” An obviously accented voice replied. He sounded tired and frustrated. “I’m not as deaf as I seem.”

“Have you heard from anyone else?” Ivan asked Gilbert, though he didn’t really seem too concerned about anyone besides Yao.

“We’ve got all the micronations minus Erland and Wendy,” Gilbert said. “Antonio, Elizaveta, Roderich, both Italies, and Alfred.” There was a soft sigh of relief and defeat from the cell beside Ivan. 

“Tell me,” Ivan began. “What is it like out there?”

“I…” Gilbert sighed. “I wish I could describe everything outside of where we’ve been hiding. But it’s nice seeing the sun and the moon and the stars everyday.” His hand went to his neck before remembering that his necklace wasn’t there and he slumped against the wall in defeat. 

Ivan hummed. “I would love to see the sun again someday soon.” 

“It’s fall, so you wouldn’t see it for long,” Gilbert said. “But it’s beautiful in the sunlight.” Ivan just sighed wistfully. 

“Want to hear more about Yao, Ivan? Would that cheer you up?”

“Da, I would love to.” 

“Yao likes to bitch at us a lot but he’s probably one of our strongest. He’s worried for shit about you but won’t admit it at all. If someone brings you up in a sentence including death, he hits them with his wok. It’s mostly Alfred he hits though.”

Ivan chuckled. “He sounds like the same old Yao.”

“He misses you a lot, Ivan. On days I can’t sleep, I can hear him pacing as he plans out ways to rescue you,” Gilbert said. “Still won’t admit it though. He also hits Alfred for fun.”

“I wish I could at least write to him,” Ivan mused. “I want him to know that I’m alive.” 

“He’d rant at you first,” Gilbert chuckled. “And then be grateful.”

“I would love to hear his voice even if he was scolding me,” Ivan admitted. 

“That’s pretty gay,” Gilbert joked, hoping to lighten the mood. 

“When are we not gay?” Arthur deadpanned.

“Fair enough,” Gilbert agreed. Ivan just chuckled softly. 

They all heard a door open from down the hall and waited for whoever brought someone down to leave before speaking.   
  


“Oi, frog,” Arthur yelled. “What took so long today? Someone stir up a fight?”

“Tais-toi,” Francis sighed as he was thrown into his cell. “It’s been an awfully long day.” 

“What happened?” Ludwig asked. His voice was still quiet and exhausted. “Did someone start a fight? If yes, who?”

“Who do you think? It’s always Kiku. He never knows when to quit.” 

Ludwig chuckled weakly. “That sounds like him. He won’t quit until the day he’s out or until the day he dies.”

“Leon was there as well,” Francis continued. “He goes off the rails every time they so much as touch Emil.” 

“Emil’s young. So’s Leon,” Arthur said. “And they’ve been joined at the hip since they stayed with me during the second World War. I wouldn’t be surprised if Leon was protective of Emil more than Lukas already is.”

“Ah, to be young and in love,” Francis sighed dramatically. 

“You Parisians and your love is everything mentality,” Arthur complained. 

“Oh, please,” Francis scoffed. “Like you aren’t hopelessly in love with Alfred, you hypocrite.”

Arthur choked on air. “Wha-I am not hopelessly in love with Alfred!”

“Spoken like a true lovesick fool,” Francis teased. Ivan just chuckled again.

“Shut up, Bonnefoy!” Arthur burst. There was the sound of commotion from somewhere far from them, a voice that was painfully familiar yelling angrily in a language no one in their area could make out. 

Francis winced. “Pas encore… He’s going to get himself killed.” 

“Kiku’s probably immune to the drugs they use on him by now,” Ludwig reasoned. 

“Wait, they’ve been _drugging_ Kiku?” Gilbert chimed in. “Verdammt, that’s ridiculous!”

“He’s been fighting ever since he arrived,” Arthur said. 

“Sounds like him,” Gilbert agreed. “He only got caught because Kuro got the jump on him.” They could hear footsteps pounding on metal floors from far away. 

Francis shivered, but Ivan, as usual, seemed unfazed. “Kiku is small, but he is very strong. They will not be able to break him easily.”

“He was the last of us to surrender,” Ludwig mused. “Strong will, short temper.”

Voices echoed:

_“He went that way!”_

_“Follow him! Kill him if you have to!”_

_“That’s the wrong way, dumbass. Left, not right.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“Positive.”_

“Wow, he might actually escape,” Arthur said idly. “If they can’t follow him, they’ve got no chance of regaining him.” Footsteps passed by their cell block, accompanied by heavy and panicked breathing. 

  
  


Kiku felt like he was going to make it despite the dart pumping sedative into his bloodstream. He refused to listen to its calls of sleep and rest, determined to get out. He saw a door and banged his shoulder against it until it broke down and he bolted, feet pounding up stairs and into sunlight and the real world. Kiku hesitated, seeing the sunlight and the fact it was almost blinding him after a year in the dark, stone walls of solitary confinement. Shaking his head, he continued running, managing to make it to a grass field before collapsing, darkness pulling at the corners of his mind as he succumbed to the sedative and fell unconscious. 

Feli and Antonio were on morning patrol, letting the others sleep as they made sure nothing was wrong. They were chatting idly about Romano and Renato and how much they missed cooking when Antonio spotted something in the bushes. He held out a hand to stop Feli in his tracks, earning a confused look. “Hold on, Feli. I think someone’s over there.” 

“What? Where?” Feli followed his gaze and saw what looked like someone’s leg sticking out from a bush. “Dio mio.” 

Antonio suddenly perked up. “Hey, it might be Gilbert! We’ve gotta see if he’s okay.” He jogged over to the bush, ignoring Feli’s protests, and gasped when he saw the rest of the person. The person was wounded, scratches covering their arms plus a cut on their cheek as blood trickled down from their temple where their head had hit a rock. They were also clearly passed out. 

“Puta madre,” Antonio exclaimed. “Feli! Come see this.” 

Feli reluctantly shuffled over to stand beside Antonio and peered into the bush. His breath hitched in his throat. “Kiku?!” The Japanese nation didn’t give a response, much less stir at the call of his name. 

“How did he get here? I thought he was captured,” Antonio mumbled. 

“It doesn’t matter! We have to save him!” Feli exclaimed, starting to panic. He was glad to see Kiku, but seeing him like _this_ made him feel a little sick. 

Kiku’s eyelids fluttered and he let out a pained groan, shifting slightly in his disoriented state. Antonio squared his jaw and stooped down to pick Kiku up. “Let’s go back to the bunker.” Feli nodded aggressively, taking off as fast as he could. 

“誰がいますか?” Kiku asked dizzily. 

“Shh, Kiku,” Antonio mumbled. “Don’t try to speak. Just breathe.” He picked up his pace. Feli was already almost out of sight; Antonio could swear he’d never seen him run that fast. Kiku said a few more unintelligible Japanese phrases before going silent and limp in Antonio’s arms. 

Feli practically threw himself at the door when he reached the bunker, pounding his fists on the steel. "Let us in! Rapidamente!"

Romano threw the door open. “What's wrong?! Did you find someone?!”

"It's Kiku," Feli gasped. Antonio burst into the clearing, Kiku in his arms. 

“Holy-what happened?!” Romano ushered them inside before pushing the door shut and locking it. “Take him to Eliza! Quickly!” Kiku’s hands had gone to his ears at Romano's panicked voice, whimpering quietly with shaky breaths. 

Antonio carried Kiku down into the lower level of the bunker where the makeshift infirmary was. Elizaveta was taking stock of the supplies and looked up when they came down the stairs. "Hello, Antonio-" She paused when she saw the panicked look on his face. "What's going on?" 

"We found Kiku in the woods," he explained, out of breath. "He's seriously hurt." 

"Lay him down here." Elizaveta gestured to a dust-covered cot. Antonio carefully placed Kiku onto it. Feli peeked out from behind Antonio, his eyes teary.

Kiku’s eyes shot open when Elizaveta touched the wound on his head and he let out an ear piercing shriek of pain, fighting to get away from her. He yelled something in Japanese that even Feli couldn't translate despite being around him for years.

“Kiku, hey, calm down,” Elizaveta urged, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Feli, help me hold him still. I need to inspect his wounds.” 

Feli hesitantly came out from behind Antonio and moved to hold Kiku’s shoulders, pressing him down against the cot. He stared down at his friend’s face, clearly upset. “K-Kiku? Can you hear me? It’s Feliciano.”

If Kiku did hear him, he didn’t give a response, straining strongly against Feli’s hold. For his small size, he was stronger than Feli but his lack of energy and the pure adrenaline flooding through him didn’t make his struggles seem strong. After a few minutes of yelling and fighting he finally said something in English: “ _Don’t touch me!_ ” He threw Feli off before darting into a corner and curling into a ball with his hands against his ears and eyes squeezed shut. 

Feli winced, stepping back. “Kiku…” 

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Elizaveta was saying, trying to get him to relax. “We know that you’ve been through a lot. We want to help.” Kiku shook his head frantically, shaking out of fear and closing his eyes tighter. 

“Wh-What do we do?” Feli asked, his voice trembling. 

“... I don’t know.” 

Yao burst downstairs and, without saying a word to Elizaveta and Feli, rushed over to Kiku. Calmly holding back Kiku’s fighting actions as he held his wrists away from his ears. “Kiku. It’s nii-san,” He murmured and Kiku slowly opened his eyes, breathing erratic but he stopped flailing. “That’s it. It’s okay, Kiku. You’re okay. I promise.”

The others just blinked as they watched Yao whisper something to Kiku. “Is it… Working?” Elizaveta asked quietly. 

“They have always been close,” Feli replied. 

Kiku latched onto Yao, burying his face into his chest. “Nii-san,” He said with a small sob. Yao hushed him, pulling Kiku close to him and swaying from side to side so he could calm him better. 

“Should we give them some space?” Antonio asked. 

“Probably.” Elizaveta turned to go, and Antonio followed, but Feli was frozen, watching Yao and Kiku intently. They’d fought so much over the years, but he guessed they were still closer than Kiku had ever been with anyone else. Closer than he was to Feli. Feli was glad he was responding to someone, but deep down, he wished it was him. 

Kiku mumbled something in Manadarin and Yao let go, stepping back before pushing Feli into Kiku’s tight hold. Feli yelped and shot Yao a confused look. It then became clear as Kiku’s arms closed over Feli’s back and the smaller nation hid his face in the Italian’s neck. Feli felt tears well up in his eyes, and he latched onto Kiku tightly. 

“Gomen’nasai,” Kiku whispered. “Feli-kun. I should have protected you better. Gomen’nasai.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry,” Feli replied. “I-It’s not your fault. I should have protected you.” He sniffled a bit. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

“Define okay. I believe I forgot the definition,” Kiku mumbled into Feli’s shoulder. 

“Alive,” Feli blurted, his voice cracking. “You’re alive.” 

“I should say that I am glad to be alive. But I feel better knowing you’re alive. And I’d prefer if you stayed alive.” Kiku let out a shaky breath before letting go and wrapping his arms around himself.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Feli told him. 

“Good,” Kiku gave a small nod. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He gave Feli a lightly stern look but it didn’t look stern at all. 

“What happened after I left?” Feli asked tentatively. 

Kiku shuddered. “About thirty minutes after you got out, I was taken down. I don’t know what happened to Ludwig or anyone else we knew. Hours later, I woke up someplace that certainly was not where I had been knocked out. I… I can’t describe it. But I was thrown in a cell with no windows and no light; just darkness. I was let out periodically but I wouldn’t stop fighting. They couldn’t keep me still or drugged for long. At least, until they pulled out stronger drugs. Everything is quite hazy after that… I’m not very useful in this aspect.” His gaze flicked to his shoes as he fidgeted. 

Feli’s face was pale. “You have to let Eliza check you out,” he said once Kiku finished talking. “It sounds like they really hurt you.” He hated even thinking about Kiku being hurt. 

“It happens,” Kiku mumbled. “I can’t believe I actually got out. After fighting twice.” He shook his head softly, grip around himself tightening.

  
“But you did. That’s what matters.” Feli placed a hand on Kiku’s arm. Kiku flinched at the touch, feeling it hit a cut that was placed right on top of a barely healed bruise. Feli pulled his hand back like he’d been burnt. “Spiacente.”

“Ie, ie. There’s a cut and a bruise there,” Kiku immediately went to reassure Feli. “Though if Roderich comes near me, I will attack like a feral cat.”

Feli pouted. “Why?” 

“Because I’d rather have you and nii-san near me more than him.”

“Well, there are lots of others here,” Feli told him. “Renato, David, Alfred…”

“ _I’ll fight the American._ ”

“I thought you and Alfred were friends.” 

“I will fight him.” Kiku looked like an angry kitten. “I do not want them close to me.”

Feli nodded. “Okay. I’ll tell them to stay away.” He wiped his eye with his sleeve. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” 

“I’m glad you’re safe too.”

“So… You don’t know what happened to Ludwig?” Feli asked hesitantly. 

“No,” Kiku shook his head. “I don’t even know where he’s being held and I haven’t seen him.”

Feli deflated a bit. “I really hope he’s alright.”

“Hai,” Kiku nodded. “You may call Elizaveta-san in if you like.” 

“Okay.” Feli stood up and went to the staircase. “Eliza?” 

Elizaveta appeared at the top of the stairs a few seconds later. “Yes? Is Kiku alright?” 

“He said you can come down and take a look at him.” 

“Oh, wonderful.”

Feli went back to Kiku’s side. “Do you need help getting onto the cot?” 

Kiku gave his ally a flat look. “I am small but I am not that small,” He protested, slowly standing up. 

“But you _are_ hurt,” Feli replied, frowning at Kiku. 

“I don’t need help getting onto a cot,” Kiku huffed stubbornly. 

“He’s not going to give in,” Yao called. 

“Fine.” Feli stepped away from Kiku, hoping his friend couldn’t tell how nervous he was. Kiku pulled himself onto the cot, wincing slightly. 

"Could you two give us a bit of space?" Elizaveta asked Yao and Feli reluctantly. Yao nodded, giving Kiku a soft reassuring look before disappearing upstairs.

Kiku gave her a hesitant look, eyes wary. “Why must we be left alone?” He asked quietly, muscles immediately starting to tense. 

"It will just be easier if I have more space," she explained. "It's already cramped enough down here. Plus Feliciano would never stop fretting." 

“Neither would Yao,” Kiku agreed. His posture was still tense, like a scared animal that was ready to either bolt or attack but couldn’t decide on one. The small nation clearly was untrusting of anyone other than his older brother and his ally.

"Just try to relax. It'll be alright." 

“Hai…” Kiku still didn’t relax as Elizaveta made sure he wasn’t too injured. It took only about an hour or so until the Hungarian girl let him go and helped him limp upstairs. When he was seated on a chair and finally about to relax a little bit, Kiku heard Alfred before he saw him. 

"Man, why do you guys never tell me when stuff happens?" Alfred was saying. "I mean, when were you gonna tell me Kiku was here?" 

“That’s because he-” Yao started, sounding frustrated before he was cut off. The shorter male pinched the bridge of his nose as Alfred continued to talk over him. 

"He what? He's one of my best friends! I deserve to know about things like this!"

“There’s a reason why you don’t know, stupid boy!” 

"Don't call me that!" Alfred stomped into the hall, nearly colliding with Kiku, who’d come to see what was the commotion about. Kiku froze up, gaze locked with Alfred’s as he practically stared down the blonde. 

Yao immediately noticed the fear spilling into Kiku’s body. “Alfred. I need you to back away. Slowly,” He said. His voice was sharp. “If you don’t move in the next five seconds, it’s not gonna be pretty.”

"Kiku," Alfred exclaimed, ignoring Yao. "Oh my God. Are you okay? Where have you been?" 

Kiku couldn’t form a response, becoming more scared by the minute. “America,” Yao warned again. “I’m warning you.”

Alfred was looking over Kiku’s wounds, frowning deeply. “You look terrible… What did they do to you?” 

There was no reply but a flash of silver narrowly missed Alfred’s nose and a tuft of blonde hair fluttered to the ground. Kiku’s instincts and fear seemed to have taken over, dagger gripped tightly in his shaking hands. “B-Back away.” 

Alfred was staring at him, clearly shocked. “Kiku, what…” 

“I said _get away!_ ” Kiku burst, voice echoing. Yao yelled for Elizaveta, frozen in place so he didn’t scare Kiku further. Elizaveta rushed over, grabbing Kiku’s arm and pulling him away from Alfred. 

“Kiku, what’s going on?” Alfred asked hesitantly. Kiku struggled defiantly in Elizaveta’s grip, agitating some of his wounds which caused tears to stream down his cheeks. 

“Kiku, stop,” Elizaveta urged. “You’re going to hurt yourself.” Kiku wrenched himself away before falling to the floor and curling into a ball. 

Yao was attempting to drag Alfred away. “Alfred, come on,” He said. Alfred reluctantly turned away from Kiku and followed Yao down the hall, glancing back over his shoulder. 

Once they were out of earshot, he turned to give Yao a quizzical look. “What just happened?” 

“A lot of things,” Yao answered solemnly. “He literally was found, collapsed and injured somewhere off the east side and when he was being checked over, he had a panic attack and wouldn’t calm down. There seems to be some connection between the attacks and you and Roderich. We have yet to figure out why.”

“But he’s been missing for a year,” Alfred mumbled. “I can’t just pretend he’s not here.” 

“That’s what you have to do until he feels comfortable, Alfred,” Yao reasoned.

“Why wouldn’t he be comfortable? We’ve been friends for so long.” 

“PTSD, Jones. They did something to give him PTSD and cause him to react this way.”

Alfred frowned. “I know what PTSD is, Yao. I’m not a kid.” 

“And one of his triggers is you,” Yao said flatly.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Alfred huffed. “I haven’t done anything to him!” 

“Alfred. If he’s been with the 2ps for a year in constant torture and he’s reacting to you this way, it’s because you remind him of Allen,” Yao pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. 

Alfred grit his teeth. “Allen. I’m gonna _kill_ him.” 

“Not yet,” Yao said firmly. “We’ve got to plan this more evenly while making sure we have enough resources to get back.”

“God damn it,” Alfred swore under his breath, turning his back to Yao. 

“It’ll be fine, Alfred. I know who you’re thinking of and I doubt he’s let them get to him.”

“What about who _you’re_ thinking of, huh? Aren’t you worried about him at all?” 

“Of course I am,” Yao said simply. “But in this moment, this group is my focus. I can’t let myself get distracted and scared like I was one year ago in that meeting room.” He squared his shoulders. “I need to be strong. And so do you, Alfred.”

“Stop telling me what to do like you’re in charge of me,” Alfred snapped, walking away before Yao could respond. 

Yao sighed, shoulders slumping. “Aiyah… Ivan, what should I do?” He whispered to himself. “I wish you were here.”


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sufin is here! there's more angst to come hehe. enjoy!

**Chapter 3**

Arthur huffed in frustration, only little sparks flying from his fingers. “The spell won’t work!”

“Are you trying to use magic again?” Ivan asked nonchalantly. 

“Of course he is,” Ludwig sighed. 

“It is not going to work, Arthur,” Ivan tsked. “It didn’t last time.” 

“Shut up! I could find a loophole!” Arthur snapped. 

“The creature who looks like you doesn’t leave room for loopholes,” Ivan told him. 

“Who says?! Oliver isn’t  _ that _ good with magic!” 

“He is better than you,” Ivan said matter-of-factly. 

Arthur punched the wall in anger as he stood up. “I’m getting awfully tired of your remarks, you twat.”

“They’re better company than your three in the morning occult chants,” Gilbert sang mockingly, making the British blonde splutter in anger and embarrassment. 

“I am just being honest,” Ivan sing-songed. 

“I hate you both,” Arthur snapped angrily.

“Aww, we hate you too, Iggy,” Gilbert teased. 

“Take that nickname right out of your mouth. Only Alfred can call me that.”

“I will never understand what you see in that boy,” Ivan admitted. 

“And I will never understand what you see in Yao,” Arthur shot back.

“Yao is a reliable, intelligent ally,” Ivan said calmly. “Alfred is an immature and selfish child.” 

“I could easily say the same about you.”

Ivan chuckled lightly. “I would like to see him take my place here. He wouldn’t last a week.” 

“You’re still a child,” Arthur huffed. “So you have no right to say anything.”

“I am much older than you,” Ivan replied. 

“And yet, I still act more mature.”

“Mon  _ Dieu,  _ will you two just shut up?” Francis interrupted, sounding beyond exasperated. 

“Tut mir leid, Herr Bonnefoy, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Ludwig said tiredly as the argument persisted. 

“If I have to stay down here with these two for another day, I’m going to lose my mind,” Francis grumbled. 

“You and me both,” Ludwig sighed. 

“Stai zitto,” a cold voice suddenly snapped. Luciano was standing outside Arthur’s cell, frowning. “Before I make you.” Arthur glared but went silent, sitting in the darkest corner of his cell. 

Luciano’s eyes flicked over to Ludwig’s cell, then back to Arthur. “It looks like you’re getting the day off, bello,” he said to Ludwig, smiling cruelly down at Arthur. “I’ve found someone to fill in for you.”

  
  


Tino was glaring at his compass as he sat cross legged on a rock with a deep scowl on his face. “Work, damn thing,” He grumbled, hitting it with the palm of his gloved hand. 

Berwald glanced over at him from where he was cleaning his rifle. “Everything okay?”

“It’s not working, Ber! And we don’t have any spare batteries,” Tino huffed, using a hand to brush his platinum blonde locks out of his face. “We’re never going to find Peter or Erland at this rate.”

Berwald leaned over and placed a hand on Tino’s shoulder. “I’ll fix it. Rest.”

Tino cursed in Finnish, hitting the electronic compass again. “I’m fine, Berwald.”

Berwald took it out of his hand and pocketed it. “You need to rest.” 

“I’m. Fine. My priority right now are our fucking sons.”

Berwald took Tino’s hand in his, gazing into his eyes. “I’m worried about Peter and Erland. But I’m worried about you too.”

Tino squeezed Berwald’s hand before placing his head on his husband’s shoulder. “If I rest, you do too, mister. Don’t think I didn’t notice those bags under your eyes,” He chided. 

Berwald sighed quietly. “Okay.” He got to his feet and pulled Tino up with him. 

Tino swayed on his feet for a moment, dizziness hitting him fast. “I’m okay,” He assured with a gentle loving smile when he noticed Berwald’s worried look.

“When did you sleep last?” 

“Uhm… About that…”

Berwald picked Tino up like he weighed nothing, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Come on.” He carried him over to their tent and gently set him down. Tino curled up on one of the blankets they had, eyes already starting to flutter closed. Berwald smiled fondly at the sight, brushing Tino’s bangs away from his forehead as he laid down beside him.

Tino yawned softly, cuddling close as the sun set on the horizon. “Night, Ber.” 

“Night, love.” 

The sun came up earlier than Tino would’ve liked. He woke up, not feeling the familiar warmth of his husband and panicked as he rushed out of the tent. He sighed in relief when he saw Berwald. “Oh, thank goodness.”

Berwald was crouched in front of the small makeshift receiver they’d set up to scan for signals being transmitted by other survivors. It hadn’t been working properly lately, only picking up static and interference, but it sounded now like something in Morse was coming through. Berwald turned around to look at Tino when he heard him. His eyes were wide. “Tino. Someone is close by.” 

Tino’s breath caught in his throat and he dove forward, almost barreling into Berwald’s side. “From where?!”

“The vineyard,” Berwald said, staring at the small satellite dish. 

“We’ve gotta get going. This is our first clear signal in days!” Tino’s eyes shone. “Let’s start packing up!” He kissed Berwald sweetly before rushing back to start packing. Berwald blushed a light shade of pink; he sat still for a few moments to regain his composure before following after Tino. 

“Love,” he started. “We shouldn’t pack everything. It might be a false alarm.”

“Sve,” Tino’s voice was firm. “That’s the first signal we’ve gotten in days- no, months. This could be our one chance at finding Peter and Erland and being safe.”

Berwald was silent for a few moments before he nodded solemnly and moved to start picking up things around their campsite. 

“How far are we from the vineyard?” Tino asked as he strapped his rifle to his back while his backpack hung off of one shoulder. 

“Not far. At the bottom of the mountain.” 

“Good. If we start moving now, we’ll get there by sundown.” Tino gave Berwald a gentle smile. “It’ll be alright. I’ll protect you.” He winked playfully. 

Berwald couldn’t help cracking a small smile. “Love you.” 

“Love you too, sweetheart. Now, let’s move!” Tino started the long walk down the steep slope, careful on any seemingly unstable ground. They’d somehow made it a few minutes before sundown and Tino blinked rapidly, adjusting to the bright sunlight.

“Let’s set up a bit away from the signal. We can check it out at night,” The Finnish male declared, hands on his hips. Berwald just nodded, starting to unpack their tent. 

Tino gave Berwald a smile as he went to help. “I can look for food later if you’d like me to,” He offered gently as he stabbed a pole into the ground. 

"You should stay close," Berwald said. "I'll look."

Tino chuckled. “How protective,” He teased. “That’s sweet of you.”

“Just want to keep you safe.” 

“You’re too kind.” Tino finished setting up before taking out their receiver and activating it as he tried to get the signal back online. He hit it a couple of times to clear the static, eyebrows furrowing slightly.

“Anything?” Berwald asked as he set up their small camp stove. 

“Loading at the moment,” Tino answered as the static started to clear. “There we go, got it!” He smiled brightly, the sun reflecting in his eyes. 

“Still coming through?” Berwald crouched down next to Tino.

“Kyllä!” Tino chirped. “I need to translate it.”

“I’ll go look for food.” Berwald pecked Tino on the cheek before standing up and grabbing his rifle, heading off into the sparse woods. Tino giggled softly at the sign of affection before going to translate the message, getting frustrated not long after since it was moving too fast for him to translate properly. 

Nightfall came fast for them and the pair were prowling through the grass, following the signal.

“Stay low,” Tino whispered, spotting the guard stations through the scope on his gun before strapping it back onto his back.

“See anything?” Berwald asked softly.

“Guard stations with people.”

Berwald set his jaw, adjusted his grip on his gun, and started off through the grass. His eyes were fixed on the guard station, but he couldn’t see if there was anyone inside, or if they were armed. 

Tino slowly moved forward before looking through the scope again. “Perkele, do they really have kids working with them?” He mumbled and squinted. “They do. Teenagers by the looks of it.”

Berwald grumbled something under his breath. “How many are up there?”

“Two stations, two people at each,” Tino answered. They moved closer and heard a gunshot, splitting up as they tried to avoid the bullets being fired at them. Tino fired a few shots back before someone barreled into him, knocking him over with a yelp before a wrestling match ensued. 

“Tino!” Berwald shouted. He pointed his gun at the two but didn’t fire, not wanting to risk hurting his husband. 

“Who are you?” The person wrestling with Tino yelled. “What are you doing here?” 

Tino yelled in rage before rolling out from underneath the person and wrapping them in a tight chokehold, refusing to let go. “A signal!” He snarled. His grip started to tighten, violet gaze blazing with angered flames. Tino was slammed back down, letting go as the air was knocked out of him and he cursed breathlessly in Finnish. 

“What the hell do you want from us?” His attacker snarled. “Why were you tracking that signal?” 

Tino was silent as he caught his breath, glaring up at them. He could hear yelling from where the person had come before realizing. “You’re a nation!”

“What’s it to you?” 

“Well, if you could  _ get off _ and let me  _ breathe _ , maybe I’d tell you.”

“Leave him alone,” Berwald interjected, pointing his rifle at Tino’s attacker. 

The person grit their teeth, slowly climbing off of Tino. “Explain yourselves.” 

“We’re looking for our kids,” Tino said simply, sitting up as he massaged his chest. He brushed the blonde locks of hair that had slipped out of his hat away from his face. “That’s it.”

The person froze. “Your… Kids?” 

“Yes, children,” Tino snapped, irritated and defensive as well as pumped with adrenaline. “Got a problem?”

“Wait… Who are your kids?” 

“None of your business.”

The person squinted at him in the low light, looking confused. “Tino?” 

Tino blinked, startled as he stood up before the look quickly turned into another glare. “How do you know me?” 

“Oh my God, it is you,” they gasped. “It’s me, Elizaveta!”

“Eliza?!” A smile spread across Tino’s face as he brightened. “Is it really you?”

Elizaveta pulled him into a crushing hug. Tino also hugged her, their hugs equally as crushing. “It’s so good to see you! Wait…” She stepped back a bit and turned to Berwald, who was still standing a few feet behind Tino. “Berwald?” 

“Sve and I haven’t left each other’s sides,” Tino laughed fondly. “We take care of each other.”

Elizaveta smiled at Berwald. “It’s good to see you too, Berwald.” He simply nodded in reply. Elizaveta chuckled. “Still the strong, silent type, I see.” 

“Are Peter and Erland here?” Tino asked, his motherly side appearing as he gripped both of Elizaveta’s hands. “Either of them?”

“Peter is,” Elizaveta replied enthusiastically. “Oh, he’ll be so excited- come on!” She tugged Tino over to the nearest door, Berwald following close behind. They ran to the door as Feli and Renato joined them. 

“Ciao, ciao, you two!” Renato greeted the two Nordic countries happily. “Nice to see you alive! Peter’s gonna be so happy!” 

Berwald still looked as passive as ever, but there was a sparkle in his eye. They stepped inside as Elizaveta hauled open the door and Renato called Peter’s name. Almost immediately, a small person shaped blur ran down the stairs and collided with Tino’s chest and legs. “Mama!” 

Tino picked the boy up. “Oh, Peter… Thank goodness you’re safe,” He said, smiling at the young micronation. 

Peter was crying, his face pressed into Tino’s shirt. “I-I missed you,” he managed, the sound of his voice muffled. 

“Peter,” Berwald said quietly, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. Peter glanced up at him and a whole new wave of tears started. Berwald wrapped his husband and son in a hug, holding them tightly. 

Tino gently hushed him, holding Peter close to him. “Where’s Erland? I thought he was with you, Peter…” He murmured, looking around. 

“I dunno, Mama,” Peter admitted, sniffling. “He was with me, and then he was just gone- I dunno what happened. I’m sorry.” 

Tino set Peter down. “Stay with Papa for a moment, okay, little dove?” He said softly, kissing Peter’s forehead. Berwald was quick to pick Peter back up and hold the boy against his chest. Peter frowned, but nodded anyway.

Tino turned to Elizaveta, a falsely sweet smile on his face.  _ “You didn’t think to tell me that one of my precious children is missing?” _ He asked, eyes blazing with anger despite the smile on his face. 

“I’m sorry,” Elizaveta murmured. “I thought you’d know when I told you Peter was here.” 

Tino’s hands tensed up and he exhaled slowly. “You had just tackled me and I was pumped full of adrenaline. Do you really think I’m going to notice little things in that state? And did you even  _ look _ for Erland?”

“Us micronations tried. I swear we were in a tight circle around his computer,” Renato said. “But one moment, it was there. The next, it was gone.” 

Tino grumbled frustratedly, scowling. “Perkele.”

“Tino,” Berwald’s calm voice came. He placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder. “It’s not their fault.” 

“It’s mine, really,” Tino said tiredly. “I should’ve paid better attention. To both of our kids, Ber. But I was so caught up in the chaos of that day…” He let out a shuddering breath. 

“It’s not yours either,” Berwald reassured him. 

“We’ve had good luck with finding other survivors recently,” Elizaveta told them. “Hopefully we’ll be able to find Erland and Wendy soon.” 

“Wendy’s missing too? Oh, poor David…”

“Finding would be a proper term for Kiku,” Renato said. “Considering how Feli and Antonio found him in a bush.”

“Antonio, Kiku, and now you two have all found your way here in the past few days,” Elizaveta said. “Hopefully this means things are turning in our favor.” 

“We’ll have to see,” Tino hummed, taking Peter back into his embrace. Peter pressed his face into Tino’s shirt, clearly happy to have his parents back. 

“Do you need anything? Food, water, any medical attention?” Elizaveta asked. 

“No, no,” Tino shook his head. “We just need to gather our supplies from a small ways away. But, the blundering idiot I call my husband should get his shoulder checked out. He wrenched it a little.”

“‘M fine,” Berwald mumbled, still focused on Peter.

Tino firmly tapped Berwald’s nose. “Get it checked out.” 

“I can take a quick look,” Elizaveta said. “Come on, this way.” She gently took Berwald’s arm and led him down the hall towards the staircase. Berwald looked over his shoulder at Tino and Peter. Tino had Peter wrapped in a tight embrace as he started to head out to collect his and Berwald’s stuff. 

“Mama,” Peter started. “Where have you and Papa been? I thought you weren’t coming back.” 

“We were stuck in the mountains, dove,” Tino murmured. “Scanning for signals every day, looking for you two.”

“I’m sorry about Erland, Mama,” Peter mumbled, picking at his nails nervously. “I didn’t see what happened- I wish I could’ve done more.”

“Peter,” Tino looked the micronation in the eyes. “It’s not your fault. I promise.”

“B-But maybe I coulda saved him…” 

“Sweetheart, no… It’s not your fault.”

Peter was sniffling a bit at that point, clearly upset. “I promised I’d always protect him, Mama.”

Tino kissed Peter’s forehead. “It’s okay. We’ll get him back.”

“Yeah!” Peter wiped his nose with his sleeve and looked up at Tino with wide eyes. “Maybe now that you and Papa are here, we can find him!”

Tino beamed. “That’s the spirit!”

They came to Tino and Berwald’s small campsite a few minutes later. Peter glanced around at their tent, their small stove, and their scanner. “Is this all your stuff, Mama?” 

“Mhm. It’s not much but we lived with it,” Tino set Peter down as he started to pack up. 

Peter crouched down to look at the scanner. “Is this how you found us?” 

“Yup! It took us a long time,” Tino ruffled Peter’s hair. 

“Maybe we could find Erland with it too!”

“We tried,” Tino admitted. “No luck.”

Peter’s face fell. “Oh. Okay.” 

“Don’t look so sad, sweetheart. We’ll find him,” Tino smiled warmly as he hefted the bags full of objects and supplies over his shoulders. 

Peter went to his side, taking his hand. “Should I carry something, Mama?”

“No, no. I’ve got it!” Tino assured. Peter just nodded, gripping Tino’s hand harder. They walked hand in hand, grips tight. 

When they made it back to the bunker, Roderich opened the door for them. He looked exhausted and surprisingly disheveled, but he offered them a small smile. “Hello, Tino. It’s good to see you.” 

“Pleasure, Roderich. Eliza is probably wrestling Berwald down so she can check on him,” Tino chuckled softly before looking at him with concern. “Are you alright?”

Roderich sighed. “Gilbert disappeared a little while ago. I’m just worried.” 

“Oh dear,” Tino said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

Elizaveta appeared behind Roderich and gave them a smile. “Welcome back, you two. Berwald’s shoulder will be fine. He just needs to take it easy for a little while.” 

“Oh, good!” Tino smiled. “I hope he didn’t give you too much trouble over it!”

“He’s as stubborn as ever, that’s for sure,” Elizaveta chuckled. “Come inside, you two. It’s getting cold out.” 

“Could you get Peter to bed? I’d hate to keep him up too late while I figure out a place for everything,” Tino said brightly. 

“Mama, no,” Peter was quick to say, turning to Tino with wide eyes. “You just came back, you can’t leave again-” 

“It’s okay, Peter, your mama will be back soon,” Elizaveta told him, smiling softly. “He and your papa will come join you in a bit.” Peter bit his lip but eventually nodded. Elizaveta patted his head gently before taking his hand and leading him down the hall. Tino watched him go with soft eyes, looking worried before sighing and going to search for the storage units. 

Elizaveta took Peter to the small barracks area where the micronations all slept. Peter climbed into his cot and pulled his thin blanket up around himself. Elizaveta smiled at him. “Goodnight, Peter. Your Mama and Papa will be here soon.” 

“Goodnight, Miss Eliza,” Peter mumbled.

Tino came in a little while later and noticed Peter was still awake. He smiled fondly as he knelt beside the micronation’s cot. “You should be asleep, hon,” He whispered, a hand brushing Peter’s bangs away from his face. 

“I couldn’t,” Peter replied, leaning into Tino’s touch. “Not without you and Papa.” 

“Mama’s here now,” Tino assured. “And I promise I won’t leave you.”

Peter shuffled in his cot so he could reach up and wrap his arms around Tino’s neck. “Missed you, Mama.”

Tino hugged him back. “I missed you too,” He murmured lovingly. “Want me to sing something to help you sleep? You and your brother always like my lullabies.”

Peter nodded, lying back down and tugging his blanket up to his chin. “Please.” 

Tino kissed Peter’s forehead and smiled. “Of course,” He said softly before starting the lullaby, singing softly. Berwald came into the barracks a few moments later, moving slowly so he wouldn’t disturb the two. Peter had his eyes closed; he looked happy. Berwald couldn’t help smiling at the sight of them. Tino shot him a smile as he finished the song before whispering a soft goodnight to Peter as he stood. 

“Let’s get some rest,” Tino whispered to Berwald. He kissed his husband’s cheek before heading to the barracks where the adults were. Berwald followed after him, looking back at Peter as he went. 


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JESUS IM SO SORRY THINGS HAVE BEEN SHIT FOR ME LATELY. thank u to nanamiyaa for reminding me that this story exists and i really appreciate it

  
  


**Chapter 4**

Matthias was thrown harshly to the ground in front of Lukas. Thurston scowled at him from above. “I thought the King of Scandinavia was supposed to be strong,” He mocked. “Guess that was a lie.” 

“Fuck off,” Matthias spat, an arm hugging his torso. The cell door slammed in response. 

“What happened?” Lukas asked, not looking all that fazed. “Couldn’t keep your mouth shut?”

“Rather not talk about it,” Matthias grumbled. The normally loud Danish male had become quiet over the past few months, getting taken away to receive a beating over one false reason or another. “Bastard probably broke a rib or something.”

Lukas heaved a sigh, crawling over to Matthias. “Alright, come here.” 

“Norge, you really don’t have to patch me up every time,” Matthias sighed heavily, a hand running through his hair. 

“If I didn’t, you would be dead by now,” Lukas said matter-of-factly. 

Matthias let out a half-hearted laugh. “I can’t die,” He winked as a light smile spread across his lips.

Lukas frowned. “So you don’t want me to help you?”

“I don’t think the rib is near my heart,” Matthias said, glancing down. “Could be close to my lung though.”

Lukas reached through the metal bars into Matthias’ cell, splaying his hand over Matthias’ chest. “Close your eyes.” 

Matthias looked hesitant but listened. “Nor, you shouldn’t strain yourself with these spells. It’s worrying me.”

“Hush. It’s just a small one. I’ll be fine.” He took a deep breath, his hand starting to glow purple. He winced a little but kept going, using his magic to heal Matthias’ cracked rib. Once he was done, he fell backwards, panting. “See?” 

Matthias looked at him worriedly. “Norge… Seriously, stop sapping your strength. I hate seeing you so tired over small spells like this,” He said, reaching a hand through the bars. 

“I’ll be fine,” Lukas insisted, tentatively taking Matthias’ hand. “It can’t be worse than having a broken rib.” 

“Still, Lukas. What if they go after you and you don’t have any strength left?”

Lukas was silent for a minute. “If they hurt me, they hurt me. All I care about is keeping you safe.” 

“Norge, I’ll be okay. I just don’t want you getting hurt,” Matthias said, gently squeezing Lukas’ hand. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Lukas was staring down at their interlocked hands, his expression unreadable. 

Matthias jolted back to reality, realizing his action. “Shit- I’m sorry,” He burst, lightly taking his hand away from Lukas’. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

Lukas was fighting down a blush. “Nei, it’s fine,” He assured, noticing the Dane’s reluctant look. “Really, Matthias. Stop worrying.”

“Can’t help it,” Matthias mumbled. He’d been stressed since knowing that Berwald and Tino got away but without the knowledge of knowing if Emil was alive was eating at him. Lukas could read the blue eyed blonde like a book. Both jumped, hearing something clang against bars as well as a voice singing sweetly in Norwegian. Lukas cringed, scooting to a dark corner in his cell. 

“Lukey~” A voice sang. “C’mon out, will you?”

“Go away, Loki,” Lukas grumbled. 

Loki giggled. “Wow, how aggressive,” He teased. “You should relax.”

“Fuck you.”

“Taken, thanks for the offer though!”

“Just leave us alone,” Lukas snapped. 

“Mmm,” Loki looked up in mock thought. “Nah.” He gripped Matthias‘ chin roughly, making the Dane wince. “He’s pretty. Maybe I’ll keep him.”

Lukas practically growled. “Get your hands off him.” 

“Maybe I should remind you who’s in a cage and who’s not,” Loki sang, grip tightening enough to bruise. Matthias stayed deathly still, breathing heavy and eyes shut tight. 

“I  _ said _ , get your hands off him.” Lukas summoned the last remnants of his magic, using it to throw Loki back and force him to let go of Matthias. He collapsed immediately afterwards, breathing heavily. 

Loki chuckled darkly and looked at Lukas with barely concealed rage. “That was  _ rude _ , Lukas,” He said, voice cheerful but with darker undertones. “Do you need to be punished? Or maybe I should scar that pretty face of the Dane you care so much for. I personally  _ love _ the second option.”

“Don’t touch him,” Lukas hissed. “If you’re going to do something, do it to me.” 

“You’re not giving orders, Lukey~” Loki mocked, snapping his fingers. “Or maybe you’d like to see your little brother all bruised and cut up. Oooo, that’d be a magnificent sight!” He laughed brightly.

Lukas’ eyes widened the slightest bit. “My brother?!”

“Oh, did I hit a nerve?” Loki mused, smirking. 

Lukas bit his lip and looked down at the floor of his cell. He was trying to process that Emil was still alive, and he didn’t want to say anything to provoke Loki even more. 

“Alriiight,” Loki chirped and clapped his hands. There was the sound of the door from down the hall opening and footsteps before a white haired person was thrown to the ground in front of Lukas’ cell with a thud. Emil gasped as the air left him, coughing harshly.

“Emil…” Lukas whispered. Seeing his brother like this filled him with anger and sadness and remorse and about a hundred other things he didn’t have the time to process at that moment. His eyes flicked up to Loki. “I’ll fucking kill you.” 

“Good luck~” Loki mocked. He traced a small dagger along Emil’s cheek, making Emil’s eyes widen as he watched. 

“Bror,” Emil whispered, fear lacing his voice. The knife didn’t cut his pale skin but if the tiniest bit of pressure was put, it could easily cut it. “Bror. Help.”

“I… I don’t know what to do,” Lukas whispered, unable to take his eyes off of the blade. “My magic’s barely working.” 

Emil seemed to go into default panic mode and a sharp flash filled the room. When the light faded, Loki was farther down the hall, unharmed but definitely confused, and the Icelandic boy was curled in a defensive ball while shivering. When Lukas opened his eyes, he gave Emil a confused look. “Em… What was that?” 

“Don’t ask,” Emil mumbled shakily. “Just don’t. I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Are you okay?” Lukas asked, dragging himself over to the bars of his cell. 

“Mhm,” Emil gave a small nod, refusing to look at Lukas with his violet colored gaze fixed on the floor.

Lukas reached through the bars, stretching his hand out towards Emil. “I’m so glad you’re alive.” 

Emil hesitated. “Leon’s been protecting me,” He mumbled, reluctantly tapping the palm of Lukas’ hand with the tips of his fingers.

Lukas shot a look down the hall at Loki. “What are we going to do about him?”

“Dunno. He’ll be confused for about two more minutes, give or take. Once he comes to his senses, he’ll probably drag me back to my cell,” Emil shrugged, nonchalant expression back on his face. 

“You should run,” Lukas hissed. “Go. While you can.”

“It’s a dead end, Lukas,” Emil growled. “And if I leave, you, the stupid Dane, and Leon are coming with me.” 

“I overheard Allen saying Kiku escaped somehow,” Lukas told him. “If he could get out, so can you.” 

“Kiku never stopped fighting. He sidestepped them and went in a different direction to confuse and draw attention away,” Emil said. “I’m just a coward. I’ve been hiding behind a handsome Chinese boy this whole time. And… I don’t know if I have any power left for another surge.”

Lukas was quiet for a minute. “I wish I could help you more. Both of you.” 

“Focus on Matthias, bror,” Emil huffed. “I’ll be fine.” Loki came storming down the hall and the white haired boy took a shuddering breath as he was yanked up by his collar and dragged away. Lukas swore under his breath and tried to summon just a little more magic, but he quickly collapsed onto the concrete floor of his cell, unable to do anything. 

“Nor,” Matthias spoke up softly. “I trust Emil. Stop straining yourself.” He swallowed quietly. “Please.”

“I can’t just give up,” Lukas muttered. 

“Lukas. You’ve pushed yourself to the limit. Anymore and I don’t want to imagine what could happen,” Matthias said. “You’re not giving up by recharging and planning things out.”

“There’s nothing to plan,” Lukas mumbled. “Kiku didn’t have a plan. And I can barely recharge because of whatever stupid spell Oliver put on my cell.” 

“Hey, I’m sure Arthur and Vlad are in the same situation as you,” Matthias reasoned. “But at least you’re able to do actual spells. Those two most likely can’t because of the blockers on theirs.”

“This is bullshit,” Lukas grumbled. “I hate feeling helpless like this.” 

“Same,” Matthias agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. The finger shaped marks on his face were a deep red and already starting to bruise. 

Lukas glanced over at him and grimaced at the sight. “That bastard. I’m going to kill him.” 

“It’s fine. They’ll heal.”

“It’s not fine.” Lukas shook his head, pulling his knees up to his chest and curling into a ball. “Whatever.”

Matthias sighed softly. “Just rest a bit,” He murmured. “Please. You need it.”

“It won’t help.” 

“You still need it.”

“Fine.” Lukas lied down on his side, still holding his knees to his chest. 

“Rest well,” Matthias said, a smile practically able to be heard in his voice as he also laid down. 

  
  


Emil was slammed into his cell and huffed, leaning against the bars while also slightly hitting his head against them. “Why. Am I. So. Weak.”

“Stop hitting your head,” Leon told him from his cell, which was across the hallway. 

Emil grumbled but stopped. “Why? Not like I’m really hurting myself.”

“It’s not good for you.” Leon’s voice was matter-of-fact. “What happened?” 

“A power surge,” Emil mumbled. “Not a strong one but a surge nonetheless.”

Leon hummed. “Another one?” 

“Ja. A panicked one too,” Emil picked at his nails. 

“I’m sorry,” Leon sighed. “Was it Loki again?” 

“Mhm. Had a knife this time. And it was in front of Lukas and Matthias.”

Leon frowned at that. “Did he hurt you?” 

“Nei. No cuts or anything. The surge happened before anything could,” Emil started scratching at his arms.

“That’s good,” Leon mused. “Your bruises looks worse, though.” His eyes were fixed on a large bruise on Emil’s cheek. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Emil said, eyebrows furrowing as he stared at his feet with the intensity of a thousand suns as his nails started to leave red lines on his forearms.

“Hey, don’t do that,” Leon said, his voice firm. “You’re hurting yourself.” 

“Am I?” Emil said absentmindedly, the motions not stopping. 

“Stop,” Leon half-shouted. His hands twitched at his sides like he wanted to reach out for Emil, but he knew he couldn’t get to him. Emil’s hands stopped for a split second as he winced out the shout before they moved to his neck.

“Emil. Stop scratching yourself.” Leon knew that was something Emil did when he was extremely nervous, and it always made him cringe, especially when there was nothing he could do to make Emil stop. 

The motions immediately stopped. “ Mér þykir það leitt,” Emil whispered. 

“It’s okay,” Leon told him. “I just don’t want you to hurt yourself.” 

“I do it too much to make it hurt anyway,” Emil said tiredly, looking at Leon with an exhausted gaze. They heard footsteps come down their hall and soon, Oliver was standing there, looking in between the two teens. Emil’s eyes had narrowed and he glared at the strawberry blonde with an icy cold stare. 

“The hell do you want?” Emil spat.

“Loki told me about your little  _ incident _ ,” Oliver explained, cutting right to the chase. 

“Incident?” Emil raised an eyebrow. “What does that even mean?”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Your magic surge. He said it was one of the strongest yet.” 

“I don’t even have magic,” Emil protested. “How does that make sense?”

“You have something,” Oliver said. “Just because you don’t know how to harness it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.” 

Emil moved away slightly as Oliver reached for his wrist. “Don’t touch me.”

Oliver tutted. “Don’t you want to learn how to control your powers?” 

Emil tensed. “Stop it.” His voice was starting to become shaky. “It’s not-”

Oliver grabbed his wrist despite his protests, tugging him up against the bars. “I just need to feel how strong you are.”

Emil yelped and barely a few seconds later, another bright flash filled the room, this time much more bright and when it faded, Emil was gone from his cell and it looked like there was no trace he was ever there. 

Emil opened his eyes and realized he was in an alley. “Shit,” He muttered and crept out, looking around warily. He heard voices coming down the street and ducked into a burnt out building. 

“Jones, take Feli and go that way. There’s a grocery store in that direction. Oxenstierna, you’re with Eliza and Tonio. Head south. Tino and I will meet you all back here in two hours,” A familiar voice said. Emil heard the footsteps fading slightly before realizing he’d dropped his Nordic pin that he’d had on his jacket since the 2ps took over and cursed silently. 

  
  


Tino saw something flash on the sidewalk and knelt down. “Ber, wait,” He said, interrupting the discussion between Berwald and Elizaveta. “Come here.”

Berwald followed after him, his eyes widening a bit when he saw the pin on the concrete. He put a hand on Tino’s shoulder; he didn’t have to say anything to communicate his shock.

“This is Emil’s,” Tino murmured. “That means he’s got to be close by.”

“Alright, you search for your friend. I’ll stick with Eliza,” Romano said, sidling up to the Hungarian girl. Tino gave a nod as the pair walked away. 

“Where would he be? And how would he have gotten out?” Tino said, looking confused. 

“We’ll find him,” Berwald said, starting off down the sidewalk and looking all around for any other sign of Emil. 

“Check that building,” Tino pointed to a burnt out building as he searched an alleyway. “That seems like a decent place to hide.”

Berwald nodded, turning away from Tino and heading into the building. He had his gun in his hands as he peered around the corner, but looked more curious than paranoid. There was a flash of white as something moved from under a crumbling staircase and a few bricks skittered into view. Berwald slowly moved towards the fallen bricks. “Emil?” 

Emil cowered in a corner, arms covering his head as he tried to calm his breathing. He didn’t give a response to Berwald, chest heaving as he slowly inhaled and exhaled.

Berwald turned the corner and saw Emil sitting there. He immediately dropped his gun and went to Emil’s side, crouching next to him. “Emil. It’s me.” 

Emil revealed one eye, tears shimmering in his gaze. “Sve?”

Berwald placed a hand on Emil's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Emil flinched away from his touch. “Please don’t touch me,” He whispered.

Berwald pulled his hand back silently. "We won't hurt you."

“Still, don't touch me,” Emil mumbled. His body felt too warm to be natural. 

“Come with me,” Berwald said, getting to his feet. “Tino and Elizaveta can help.” 

“I'm not really injured.”

“Come.” Berwald turned away and walked out of the crumbling building. Emil slowly followed, looking nervous.

“Tino,” Berwald called to his husband. “It’s Emil.”

Tino whirled around and rushed to the Icelandic boy, bursting into a rant in Finnish while bouncing on his toes frantically. Berwald put a hand on Tino’s back to ground him. “Don’t overwhelm him, love.”

“You haven't changed,” Emil said. “Either of you.” 

Tino huffed. “Thank you?”

“Don't mention it.”

“Where’ve you been?” Berwald asked. He was looking Emil over carefully, scanning him for obvious injuries. 

“Where do you think?” Emil huffed. His hair was streaked with dirt and ash.

“Let’s go back,” Berwald murmured to Tino, walking off to find the others. Tino gently took Emil by the hand and guided him along. 

Romano and Elizaveta were inside an old drugstore, Elizaveta scouring the shelves for anything left over that might be useful. They were getting low on medical supplies back at the bunker. When Berwald burst in, she jumped, hand going to her gun, but she relaxed at the sight of him. “What’s going on?” 

“We found someone,” Tino sang as he came inside, still holding Emil’s hand. 

Elizaveta blinked a few times when Emil came into the pharmacy. “Oh, Emil! Are you alright?” 

“Fine. Just drained,” Emil said. “And exhausted.”

“Wow, I didn’t think we would find anyone here,” Elizaveta mused. “You should probably go back to the bunker.” 

“I only got out a few minutes ago,” Emil mumbled. “And I'm not that fragile.”

“Still, you probably need food and water and rest,” Elizaveta said, giving him a small smile. 

“I'd rather punch something.”

“Don't do that,” Tino reasoned softly.

“Fine,” Emil crossed his arms. 

“How'd you even get here? It'd be a bit of a ways away to get this deep in the city.”

“Teleportation.”

Elizaveta’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“Teleportation and a panic attack,” Emil said simply. 

“Magic,” Berwald clarified. “Nor has it too.” 

“Mine’s just more suppressed.”

“Well, I don’t know how to handle things like that,” Elizaveta chuckled. “But you do look exhausted, Emil.”

“Two surges happened within thirty minutes. It does that,” Emil looked away. You could see faint red lines on his arms and neck.

Elizaveta frowned. “Tino, Berwald, do you think you can take him back? Romano and I can handle this.”

“Alright!” Tino said cheerfully before taking Emil's hand again as they walked away. Berwald nodded curtly and followed after the two of them. 

As they neared the outskirts of the city, Berwald spoke up. “Emil. Have you seen Nor or Matt?”

“Saw ‘em today. Lukas’ 2p caused the first surge,” Emil said quietly.

Berwald was silent for a moment. “Erland?”

“Seen his laptop once or twice. Never him. They got it hooked up to some monitor that's either his prison or the thing they're using him on.”

Berwald heaved a sigh. “Hope he’s okay.” 

“Ja. What about Peter? Any sign?”

“Oh, he's back at the bunker!” Tino said. “He'll be so happy to see you!” 

“I doubt it,” Emil said softly. They started hiking through the grass fields, eventually making it to the entrance, where Roderich opened the door.

Roderich startled when he saw Emil before he realized who he was. “Where are the others?” 

“Still there,” Tino answered. “They sent us back ‘cause of Emil.”

“Well, come inside.” Roderich stepped aside to let them in and shut the door behind them.

“Is Kiku resting like he was told to?” Tino asked as he took off his leather gloves. 

Roderich heaved a sigh. “No. He’s being… Very difficult.” 

“As I'd expect,” Emil said.

“Where is he?” Tino asked.

“I’m not sure,” Roderich admitted. “He should be in the barracks.” 

“I'll go look,” Tino separated from the group and headed to the barracks. Looking inside, he practically melted at the sight. The micronations that were there were all curled around the Japanese male, and all of them were fast asleep. 

When Tino came back down the stairs, Roderich gave him a questioning look. “Was he up there?” 

“Yup,” Tino gave a thumbs up. “And I probably just saw the cutest thing since our kids.” Berwald shot him an incredulous look like nothing could ever be cuter than their kids. “Go look, Ber.”

Berwald scaled the stairs and peeked into the room, then immediately came back down. He nodded in concession. “It’s cute.” 

“What’s happening up there?” Roderich asked. 

“It's an actual cuddle pile,” Tino said. “With Kiku and the micronations.”

“Nice. I'm gonna go join,” Emil said tiredly as he went upstairs. 

“You should wait until Eliza gets back so she can look you over,” Roderich suggested. 

Emil promptly flipped him off over his shoulder before disappearing upstairs. Tino smothered a laugh at Roderich’s expression. 

“Honestly,” Roderich huffed, turning on his heel and heading back to stand by the door. 

“He was a viking,” Tino reasoned, smiling. “And was basically raised by vikings.” 

“That’s no reason to be rude and turn down hospitality,” Roderich grumbled. 

“Is it turning down hospitality if he's going to go join a cuddle pile of people who live here? Is it really?” Tino said. The passive aggressiveness was dripping into his voice. Roderich squared his jaw, not looking away from the door. 

“Tino,” Berwald said quietly. “Leave it.” 

Tino huffed. “Fine.”

“He just misses Gilbert,” Berwald reminded his husband. If Roderich heard him, he pretended he hadn’t. 

“I know,” Tino sighed. “But Gilbert is a strong person. He'll most likely get out on his own.”

Berwald put his arm around Tino’s shoulders. “Lukas and Matthias are alive.”

“So I hear.”

“I’m glad.” Berwald was obviously extremely happy to hear the news, he just expressed it in the same way he expressed everything. 

Tino leaned his head against Berwald’s chest. “Agreed.”


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry writer's block is a bitch but the next chapter is coming i promise

  
  
  


**Chapter 5**

A laptop snapped open as a monitor turned on right in front of a girl locked in a cell. “No luck,” The redhead on screen scowled. “Too many firewalls, Wendy.”

Wendy rolled her eyes. “What’d you expect?”

“I dunno, hacking into one of their computers or something? Let them know we're _ alive _ , maybe?” The boy fired back.

“This is how it goes every time,” she snapped. “Just give it up already.”

“Nej! I'm sure I can find a weak link!” He protested.

“Er, you’ve been doing this for months,” Wendy huffed. “It’s not gonna change.” 

A sharp look of hurt flashed in the redhead’s eyes. “I just… I'm worried. There, I admitted it.”

Wendy sighed, rubbing her eyes with her palms. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d slept well. “I know. I’m worried too. I wanna see David more than anything. But runnin’ in circles like this is just gonna drive you mad.” 

“I'm more pissed, honestly,” Erland grumbled. His cheek squished against the screen. “At least you aren't trapped in a screen.”

“I’m trapped in a cell, Er,” Wendy deadpanned. 

“Better than a screen.” Erland sighed. “I'm trying again. They can't have reset that quickly.” The laptop shut and the monitor screen went black. 

Wendy rolled her eyes again. “That bugger.” 

Erland got through more firewalls, reaching the last one and hesitating before shaking his head and breaking through it after about twenty tries. 

  
  


A TV in the mess hall in the bunker that Kiku had hooked up turned on despite no one touching the remote. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?” A familiar voice echoed from the speaker. Tino choked on his drink of water as he heard the voice. 

Peter, who’d just woken up from his nap and decided to look for food, poked his head into the mess. His eyes were wide. “Is that Er? Where is he? Is he here?” 

The static on the TV faded. “Ah, there we go,” Erland straightened up onscreen. “Erm, hej. It's me, Erland Oxenstierna, personification of the micronation, Ladonia. First of all, screw you guys for having so many firewalls. Second, I hope you're all doing well. Don't worry, this won't be tracked but I can't be onscreen for long.” 

Peter gasped sharply, nearly falling over as he scrambled to get closer to the screen. “Er! Where are you! Can you hear me? It’s Peter!”

“I can hear you, not see you though,” Erland agreed. “And I don't really know where I am. But, with determination and Wendy's pessimism, I managed to get through the firewalls to let you all know that we're alive. I just can't manifest my physical form and Wendy is… emotionally wounded, so to speak.”

“Mama, we’ve gotta find him,” Peter exclaimed, grabbing Tino’s sleeve and looking up at him with wide, shimmering eyes. “We’ve gotta get Papa and go find him.” 

“Peter,” Erland said. “You can't find me yet. They're always watching us closely. It's too risky.” The static started up again. “Time’s up. Stay safe and don't do anything drastic! I-” The screen cut to black before Erland could say anything else.

Peter’s breath hitched as he looked back at the blank screen. “Er?” Tears welled in his eyes. Tino snapped out of his thoughts and wrapped Peter in a tight hug, hushing him softly.

“Mama, we have to find him,” Peter whispered. 

“I know, sweetheart, I know. And we will, but we can't track the signal,” Tino murmured. “And he doesn't know where he is either.”

“I have a good idea unless they moved the laptop, which I'm pretty sure they did,” Emil said.

“He’s probably where everyone else is,” Roderich said from where he was standing in the doorway. “In their prison.” 

“That place is huge, Edelstein. There's different levels and different blocks for different countries. Hell, we don't even eat in the same room. It's not that easy,” Emil said, violet gaze trained on the floor with a look of slight anger.

Roderich scowled. “Well, that is where you should start.” He crossed his arms over his chest, clearly fed up with Emil’s attitude. Emil grumbled under his breath, also scowling as his hair covered his eyes.

“Let's not fight,” Kiku said quietly. “We are supposed to be a team, hai? Fighting will only drive us apart.”

“We’ve already been torn apart,” Roderich mumbled, turning away. 

“Roderich,” Yao stood up. “There's still hope for everyone. We're not torn apart just yet.” Roderich just ignored him and walked down the hall. 

Yao huffed. “Stubborn.”

  
  
  


“Hm. Stubborn,” Luciano mused, gazing down at Ivan with contempt. Ivan was on his knees on the floor, his hands in shackles chained to the wall behind him, breathing heavily. Luciano tsked, stooping down and lifting Ivan’s chin with his fingers. Ivan glared at him with malice but said nothing. Luciano just smiled sweetly at him. “What should we do with this one, Al?” 

Allen shrugged. “Do what you want, Luci. Shouldn't be that hard to find a weak spot.”

“I’ve told you, I don’t know anything,” Ivan deadpanned, though his eyes were still blazing with rage. 

Luciano sighed, then slapped Ivan across the face hard enough to make his neck snap to the side. “Of course not. All that vodka has dulled your memory into nothing, hm?” Ivan just fixed him with the same steady glare. 

“You sure you don't know anything, dude?” Allen looked Ivan up and down. “‘Cause you sure as hell look like you do.”

“What do I look like I know,  _ svolach?”  _ Ivan spat, giving Allen a smile. It was almost impossible to shake him up, to make him feel anything other than calm, but Luciano and Allen had been torturing him in shifts or together for longer than he could even say, and he was starting to lose his grip. 

“Locations, techniques, schedules…  _ people _ ,” Allen replied. “I'm sure you'd hate for us to get our hands on your little boytoy.”

Ivan narrowed his eyes. Something stirred in him at Allen’s words, but he fought it back. “I have been here since the war broke out. How would I know where anyone is?” 

“You never know.” Allen's bat tapped the floor. “Again, maybe if we captured that Chinese guy, we'd maybe have more info. I'm sure he'd be easy to break into tiny little pieces.”

“You would never break him,” Ivan growled, straining against his handcuffs. “Yao is stronger than you could ever be.” 

“Is that so?” Luciano tapped his chin, pretending to think. A cruel smirk spread across his face. “I suppose we’ll just have to let him go.” 

Ivan froze. “What?” 

“If your little  _ friend  _ can’t help us, we might as well dispose of him,” Luciano explained, speaking slowly and carefully like he was talking to a child. “Isn’t that right, Al?” 

Allen chuckled darkly. “Damn right. I'm sure Xiao would  _ kill _ to take his place.”

Ivan furrowed his brow. “You don’t even know where Yao is. Why else would you be asking me?”

“We could always dispose of him,” Allen said as he snapped his fingers. “Just like that. Poof. No more little Yao to run China.”

“You don’t know where he is,” Ivan repeated, sounding a little less sure of himself. He hadn’t seen Yao since the attack; how could he be sure? 

“You don't know that,” Allen scoffed. “That vodka really must've destroyed your brain.”

“Zatknis,” Ivan snapped. The jokes about him being an alcoholic had been constant since he got here, and he really didn’t know why, but they really didn’t sit right with him. “Stay away from him.” 

“Oh, did we touch a nerve?” Luciano cooed. 

“And who are you to order us around, huh? Chained down like a dog. Why don't you be a good boy and  _ sit _ ?” Allen challenged. 

Ivan grit his teeth, tugging against his restraints again. A grating sound echoed through the chamber as the chains wiggled where they were attached to the wall. Luciano’s eyes widened the slightest bit. “Merda,” he mumbled, taking a step back and pulling out his knife. “Stop. Before we make you.” 

Allen raised his bat, the nails on it shining in the dim light. “You won't like what happens when this bat connects with your head.”

Ivan didn’t even seem to hear Allen; he kept pulling, and with one last tug, he ripped the chains from the wall, jolting forward with the momentum. Luciano shouted something, brandishing his knife, but he didn’t hesitate, jumping to his feet. He grabbed Luciano’s wrist and twisted so hard there was a  _ snap.  _ The color drained from Luciano’s face and he bit his lip, the knife falling from his hand. 

Allen felt his body tense at the noise, almost gagging but he kept his form steady. He swung the bat but didn't expect Ivan to catch the blow. One of the nails sunk into Ivan’s palm, but he didn’t even flinch, just stared into Allen’s eyes as he gripped the bat and wrenched it from the American’s grasp, still holding Luciano in place with the other hand. 

“What are you doing?” Luciano barked, pain evident in his voice as he thrashed against Ivan’s grip. “Fucking stop him!” 

“The hell am I supposed to do, huh?!” Allen shot back, raising his fists.

Before Luciano could say anything else, Ivan grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him against the wall. Luciano let out a broken gasp, clawing at Ivan’s hand, but it didn’t take long for him to go limp and collapse onto the floor. Ivan turned to Allen and pulled the bat free from where it was stuck in his hand. “Get out of my way.” 

Allen hesitated but moved, looking anxious as Ivan shoved past him and smashed the lock of the cell door with the bat, snapping it in half like it was made of plastic. Ivan threw the door open and stomped out, disappearing into the darkness at the end of the hallway. 

The prison was practically a maze of twists and turns and dead ends everywhere you stepped. It took a while to find a way out but on his way, Ivan remembered that Gilbert had mentioned a bunker somewhere far from the city. Time to start searching. 

  
  


It had started snowing around the time the sun started to set hours after the breakout as Ivan spotted something in the distance. A… station of sorts? It looked like a guard station that would have been outside an old fortress or bunker of some kind. Ivan felt a spark of hope; maybe this was the place Gilbert had been talking about. He just really hoped he didn’t get shot before he made it there. Steeling himself, Ivan kept trudging, nearing the station. 

Romano heard a clanging knock and silence filled the bunker as everyone froze, stopping evening preparations and activities. He crept towards the door and stood on his toes, peering through the slot. His eyes widened when he saw who was standing there and struggled to open the door fast enough, pushing it open after a few minutes.

Ivan blinked at him a few times when the door swung open, then gave him a soft smile. “Privet. Can I come in?” 

Romano nodded, letting him inside and closing the door. “Back to work, everyone!” He yelled and everyone unfroze. “Kiku, mind getting your brother?” 

“Hai!” Kiku said, rushing away. 

“His brother?” It took a second to click, but when it did, Ivan gave Romano a surprised look. “Yao is here?”

“Si. Keeps everyone in line, coordinates schedules. We need him,” Romano confirmed. After a bit, Kiku and Yao came into view. Yao saw Ivan and did a double take, eyes widening.

Ivan couldn’t help gasping softly. “Yao…” 

“IVAN!” Yao yelled excitedly, practically tackling the Russian as he hugged him tightly. “You're alive!” 

Ivan caught Yao in his arms, a grin spreading across his face. “It is so good to see you, my friend!” 

“And you, sir, are  _ covered _ in snow,” Yao said. “Let's get you dried off and changed. Don't worry, you can keep the scarf as long as you let me wash it.”

Ivan chuckled as Yao stood on his toes to dust some of the snow off of the top of his head. “The snow is nothing I’m not used to, but if it makes you happy…” 

Yao gave him a firm nod and a smile, grabbing Ivan's hand. “Come along.” Ivan gladly followed him, looking happier than the others could ever remember seeing him before. 

“I like seeing Yao happy,” Kiku murmured before jumping as Alfred practically materialized beside him and stepping away. “A-Alfred-san. Please do not sneak up on me.”

“What’s going on?” Alfred asked. 

“The Russian found his way to our base,” Romano said. “Dragging chains and in the snow.”

Alfred raised his eyebrows. “Ivan escaped? Wow.” 

“Hai, he was still chained and everything,” Kiku said quietly. “A miracle.” The smaller nation still seemed afraid of Alfred but was slowly getting used to him, especially because the American insisted on being around him so they could rekindle their friendship.

“I wonder if he knows anything about Arthur…” Alfred mumbled. He didn’t really seem to care that Ivan was okay, but that wasn’t surprising to anyone. 

“You may ask him if it’s important,” Kiku said wearily. 

“I hope Ludwig’s okay too,” Alfred added, glancing over at Kiku. 

Kiku had a solemn look on his face. “Hai. Feli and I are hoping. But he is strong,” He replied. “I believe that they will not be able to break him so easily.” His eyebrows furrowed as though he doubted his statement. 

“Yeah, he always was tough,” Alfred mused. He gave Kiku a small smile. “Just like you.” 

Kiku snorted. “Ie. I am broken. Ludwig is stronger than me,” He said simply. “There is not much room to believe that I have strength, Alfred-san.” He heaved a sigh, the solemn look replacing his skeptical smirk, shoulders slumping. 

Alfred started to reach out to put a hand on Kiku’s shoulder but paused. He knew Kiku wasn’t totally comfortable with physical contact with anyone other than Yao. Kiku gave him a confused look, raising an eyebrow. Alfred just smiled. “You’re still strong, Kiku. No one’s ever gonna change that.” With that, he walked away. 

Kiku hummed before he felt the familiar warmth of Feli flopping onto his back. “Feli-kun, must you greet me this way?” He mused, the smallest of smiles playing on his lips. 

“Si,” Feli said matter-of-factly, hooking his chin over Kiku’s shoulder. “Especially when you look sad.” 

“Don’t worry,” Kiku chuckled. “I was just thinking. Maybe we could ask Ivan some questions later?”

Feli’s smile slowly disappeared. “About Ludwig?”

“Hai. When I was there, I heard they kept most of the allies plus Ludwig in a cell block all together. I wasn’t in the same area as I was in… solitary confinement.”

Feli bit his lip. “Do you think Ludwig’s okay?”

“I hope so, Feliciano. I hope so,” Kiku murmured.

  
  


Yao was struggling to get the chains on Ivan’s wrists off. “Whoever made this is going to die painfully,” He grumbled, jaw set with determination. “Aiyah.” 

Ivan just chuckled. “They don’t hurt. It’s alright.” 

“Hush,” Yao said firmly as one chain clanged to the floor. “They can and  _ will _ come off.” His hair had come undone from the tight bun he’d had it in when he saw Ivan for the first time in almost two years, causing the silky black locks to flow down his back as he focused on helping his ally. 

Ivan reached out and tucked some of Yao’s hair behind his ear, smiling softly at him. “Your hair has gotten much longer.” 

“No time for a haircut,” Yao said wryly. “And I rather like it like this.”

“So do I,” Ivan told him. 

Yao felt his face heat up as the second chain hit the floor. “There,” He said, taking the hair tie off his wrist and tying his hair back into a simple ponytail. “It’s off.”

Ivan rubbed at the red and purple mark encircling his wrist. “Spasiba.”

Yao placed his hands on his hips. “It was nothing,” He said confidently. “Anything to help a friend. But, how did you find us? I thought we were quite hidden.”

“I heard Gilbert talking about a bunker, so I wandered until I found something.” Ivan sounded tired. 

Yao felt himself relax and gently took one of Ivan’s hands into his own. “Aiyah… your hands are freezing,” He said, looking worried. “And you need rest.”

  
Ivan chuckled. “I  _ am _ exhausted. Is there somewhere I can go to sleep?” 

“We have a lot of space,” Yao said, leading Ivan to the adult barracks while still holding his hand. “Empty beds are the ones without name tags.” There was an empty cot next to Yao’s bed, clearly being saved for someone with how neat it was. 

“This is nice,” Ivan commented. He sat down on the edge of the cot and looked up at Yao. 

“We try,” Yao smiled lightly. He sat next to him. “I’m happy you’re alive, Ivan.”

Ivan returned his smile. “I’m glad you are too. I knew you would be; you have always been a fighter.” 

Yao couldn’t help but laugh. “Xie xie. Although I am still quite mad that you shoved me out of the meeting room before I could do anything.”

“I panicked,” Ivan admitted. “Which is not something I’m used to.”

“You panicked. For me…?”

“You are my ally and my friend,” Ivan told him. “I did not want to risk losing you.” 

Yao blushed. “Xie xie, Ivan. I was scared that I did something wrong by running and not turning back to help,” He said softly, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“You did the right thing. Please don’t worry.” Ivan was still smiling softly at Yao. 

“I’m still going to kill whoever made those chains.” Yao let out a small huff, crossing his arms. 

Ivan just laughed again. “Spasiba, my friend. For everything.” He squeezed Yao’s hand gently. 

“It was nothing, Ivan. You dragged yourself here in the cold and the snow alone,” Yao said. “It’s what you deserve.” He checked the time. “Oh. I’ve got a shift tonight.” The Chinese male didn’t look excited about being in the dark while it was snowing.

“I can cover it for you,” Ivan suggested. “I don’t mind the cold, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep for a while.” 

“Then we’re going together,” Yao said with a sharp look. “Shift is only about four or so hours before someone comes out to take the rest of it.” His eyes glimmered as he went to pull his coat off the rack in the corner of the barracks. “Make sure you’re bundled up.”

Ivan slowly got to his feet. “Do you have a coat I can wear?” 

“You can borrow one of Berwald’s spares. He brought a couple coats with him so we’ve got a few extras,” Yao tossed a coat over to Ivan before pulling on soft mittens. 

“There are more people here than I expected,” Ivan commented as he shrugged the coat over his shoulders. 

“I can say the same,” Yao chuckled. 

Ivan heaved a sigh when they stepped out into the cold. "It's a beautiful night." 

Yao buried his nose into the old knit scarf he’d found, hair dotted with white as snow landed on his head. “Mhm. Quiet. A little more peaceful than normal.”

Ivan craned his neck to look up at the sky. "Do you see much action out here?"

“Not lately,” Yao shrugged. “It’s eerie. They went silent for months, then Antonio showed up as well as Elizaveta. Gilbert was taken soon after, then Kiku showed up, and now…” He looked up at the Russian with shining brown eyes. “You.”

"Maybe things are getting better then, if so many are escaping," Ivan commented, not picking up on the way Yao was looking at him. "Maybe the Others are getting weak."

Yao hummed. He saw movement but realized it was a deer and let out a small sigh of relief, relaxing slightly. He hadn’t even realized he was tense. Ivan noticed his posture and frowned a bit. "Is something the matter?"

“I’ve never liked night shifts,” Yao said. “Don’t worry.” He shivered as wind blew around them, throwing the snowflakes off course and causing the Chinese male to pull the scarf up. 

"Maybe you should go inside," Ivan told him. "I can keep watch." 

“I’ve done longer. There’s normally no wind,” Yao said. “I can take it.” He started fidgeting with the top strap of many that kept a dagger lashed to the side of his leg.

Ivan glanced over at him but chose to say nothing, just staring out over the empty field and watching the snowflakes dance in the moonlight. 

“A miracle how you’re used to this,” Yao said after a few minutes of silence.

“Da,” Ivan agreed. “But it has a sense of peace to it. Winter is quite pretty.”

They sat in silence as snow swirled around them. “I’m glad you’re alright,” Yao blurted. Ivan gave him a serene smile.

“Let’s stay alright.”


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me three days to write. its not my best work and it's shorter than normal but im working on it. enjoy! (finally HongIce)

  
  
  


**Chapter 6**

  
  


Leon’s foot tapped against the bars of his cell. It had been really quiet since Emil had basically blasted his way out of the cell through whatever force he had. No one would even come near his block and it was starting to unsettle him. He was hoping Emil got out safely and that he found who he needed to find, whoever the hell that was. He then heard something slam into the wall above his head, shards of porcelain falling down. 

“Get up,” Leon’s 2p, Wang Huo, stood over him. His hand dripped with the hot tea that was currently dripping down the wall. Leon bristled, gritting his teeth. 

“Why should I?” He snarled. “You didn’t scare me by throwing hot tea at me, dumbass.”

A scoff. “Erikur could do much worse than me, idiot. Be glad it’s only me and not him, got it?” Wang Huo scowled as Leon stood, the chains on his ankles weighing the imprisoned nation down slightly.

“What the fuck do you want, Wang Huo?” 

“Where’s your boytoy? How’d he get out?”

“For the last time, I don’t know. This is a stupid interrogation.”

“Trust me, I know. But Oliver is all like ‘find the boy, blah, blah, blah,” Wang Huo mocked his “parent”, making Leon snicker. “Quit laughing.” 

“Quit laughing, blah, blah, blah,” Leon mocked right back, smirking as a low warning noise left Wang Huo’s throat as he glared at his counterpart.

“Wang Huo!” A voice sounded at the end of the hallway and the mentioned male paled.

“E-Erikur! What are you doing here?” Wang Huo asked nervously. Erikur rolled his eyes as he walked over. 

“Stop being useless and interrogate him properly,” He snapped. “Do you not know how to do anything but exist?” Wang Huo flinched slightly.

“I mean, I can fight…”

“So can everyone else, you’re not special.”

“A-Ah. Thanks then,” Wang Huo bowed his head. Erikur looked at Leon with distaste. 

“Disgusting,” He growled before storming off.

“Who drove a stick up his ass?” Leon snorted.

“Himself,” Wang Huo deadpanned and they both laughed quietly. They sat together, arguing, talking, and everything in between. Leon didn’t quite trust Wang Huo and Wang Huo seemed too scared of Erikur’s wrath to do anything that wasn’t what the Icelandic boy ordered him to do. He hated it. 

“Listen, dude,” Leon said. “I can get you out of here and offer you protection if you get me out.”

Hesitation. “I’m not sure,” Wang Huo mumbled. “Erikur is always watching, he might see.”

“Again, I’ll protect you. You’ve gotta trust me.” 

“I…”

They stared each other down before Wang Huo slipped the keys out of his pocket. “A-Alright. Just keep me with you,” He said.

Leon beamed. “Promise,” He said. As soon as Leon was freed from his chains and stepped out, the alarm went off. 

“Go!” Wang Huo shoved Leon forward and after stumbling for a moment, they both broke into a sprint, determined to get out through the twists and turns of the prison.

“Wait! What about Lukas and Matthias?!” Leon cried, slowing his step and yelping as he was shoved forward again.

“We can’t save them,” Wang Huo said sharply as they rounded a corner. Almost immediately, they were faced with Loki and Mikkel. Loki smiled creepily, sending a shiver down their spines.

_ “Going somewhere, boys?” _

  
  


Emil was pacing. He had been for the past hour or so. The guards outside had all rushed in, hearing the alarm of the prison from far away. Were they being hunted now? Or had someone escaped? Tino’s efforts at calming him were fruitless, his pacing becoming more frantic. 

“Emil,” Tino said gently. “You’re going to wear yourself out.”

Emil scowled. “Or what?” He huffed. “I’m not tired, Tino. And this is the only thing keeping me sane.”

Tino sighed. “Iceland. This isn’t healthy. You’ve been pacing for an hour and a half. You skipped breakfast and lunch so you need to eat,” He placed his hands on his hips.

Emil grit his teeth. “I’m not hungry,” He waved Tino away but the Finnish male didn’t budge.

“Emil Steilsson. You are eating whether you like it or not,” Tino said firmly, not leaving the room that was hidden far back into the bunker.    
  


“Stop it.”

“Emil. Let’s go.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“Emil, please cooperate.”

“I said  _ don’t touch me! _ ” A burst of light and Emil was on the other side of the room, breathing harshly. Tino’s shoulders slumped as his violet gaze simmered with worry.

“Emil, I know you’re worried about your brother and Matthias but-” He got cut off.

“It’s not just them, Tino,” Emil growled. “Leon’s there too. I should’ve taken him with me.”

Tino softened. “Is there something you wish to tell me?” He asked gently. Emil sniffled, furiously blinking away tears.

“I dunno,” He mumbled. “I’m scared for all three of them. And then there’s Leon who just…” He let out a sigh. 

“Is too amazing and you can’t handle it?”

“Yeah- wait, how’d you know?”

A soft laugh. “That’s how I felt when I fell for Sve.”

“Oh…”

“Wanna tell me about it?” Tino walked over to Emil, gently sitting him down. 

“I guess,” A tear traced Emil’s cheek. 

Tino wiped it away. “Talk to me, Iceland.”

Emil huffed. “I think it’s love? I’m not so sure but my heart skips a beat and there are butterflies in my stomach whenever I talk to him,” He said. “It’s strange and I honestly hope I’m not sick but I never want to hear him stop talking. He’s so sweet and beautiful and I just…”

Tino cooed, smiling. “Ah, young love. What I would give to be young again,” He said. 

Emil scowled. “You’re not funny, Finland,” He huffed. He turned away from Tino. “But seriously. I wanna kiss him.” He felt a lump in his throat. “But I can’t even do that.”

“That is a very valid thing to be upset about, Emil,” Tino said softly as a broken sob left the younger boy’s lips. Emil was struggling to form an actual sentence as Tino hugged him tightly, whispering comfortingly. They stayed like that for a couple hours until Tino managed to coax Emil out, guiding him towards the common room. They noticed everyone on guard inside. 

“Everything alright?” Tino asked.

“Two people on the horizon, we're trying to pinpoint them,” Romano replied as he furiously watched the camera that was facing out since they had installed it recently and were determined to test it. 

“I'll take my shift,” Emil called. 

“Emil-” Tino started. 

“Nei, Tino, you're not going to be my substitute for Lukas anymore. I'm grown up,” Emil said. “I'll be fine.” Tino stepped back, expression resolved and nervous.

“Alright,” He murmured. “Please be careful.”

Emil slung the bow he’d carved across his chest, his quiver strapped to his back. “You doubt me too much,” He grumbled. He let Roderich open the door before going to his station in the southeast area of the bunker. 

  
  


Leon was getting tired. They’d been walking for like two hours (as Wang Huo put it but Leon didn’t trust the little devil)since they miraculously managed to make their escape, even with Loki and Mikkel on their trail. It’d be a miracle if they weren’t followed. They’d walked until they reached a grass field, hardly taking a break under the cold winter sun. A few miles in was when they first saw the signs of something.

“Wait. I see something up ahead,” Wang Huo stopped him which made Leon scowl. 

“It’s a grass field. There’s just more grass, dumbass,” Leon grumbled. 

“Negativity,” Wang Huo singsonged teasingly. “But look. I think there’s people not too far from us.” Leon tensed.

“Move carefully then,” He said as they started to walk slowly through the grass. They saw a strange looking box-like structure as they neared the thing.

“Look out!” Wang Huo pushed Leon to the side and an arrow pierced the ground where the nation had once been. Leon’s counterpart’s eyes flared with a sharp heated emotion as he charged towards the guard station, narrowly being missed by an arrow. He tackled the person that was firing off the sharp projectiles but his advantage didn’t last long as Leon watched Wang Huo fly through the air like a ragdoll. 

“Wang Huo!” He yelled before running as the person who was attacked pounced on the counterpart like a feral cat with an angered yell and a flash of white.

“Who are you?! What the hell are you doing here?!” The person snarled before Leon barreled into him with a shout of “Get off of him!” They rolled in the grass, furiously clawing at each other with their hands until the person flipped Leon and landed a kick to the taller male. 

“How dare you?!” The person snarled. “Totally unprompted!” He kneeled on Leon’s chest, an arrow aimed at his heart. Leon couldn’t help but marvel, staring into the multiple shades of violet that highlighted the boy’s eyes.

“...Emil?”


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im evil i know

  
  
  


**Chapter 7**

Renato would much rather be asleep than listen to his arguing roommates. Pillow squashed over his head like it was a shield, he could faintly hear Morro, David, and Peter arguing like it was a mafia deal gone wrong. Couldn’t a micronation get some sleep around here? Apparently not. Renato huffed under his breath.

“Keep arguing and I’m going to suffocate you with your pillows,” He threatened. Pure blissful silence followed. “Finally.” Renato buried his face into his pillow before commotion outside woke him back up and he groaned as he sat up. Shooting a glare at the other three micronations that made them cower in fear, he trudged out of the barracks. Yao was fussing over a brunette male who was attached to Emil’s side while at least three nations stood in between them and another male, weapons at the ready. 

“There’s one of those damn buggers here?!” David yelped as he came out, sidling up to Renato. “Well, apparently we’re a book short of a library.”

Renato rolled his eyes. “Amico, he came with Leon. If I can tell that from here, then you’re a book short of a library,” He huffed, using the insult against his friend. Over time, he’d picked up some Australian slang to confuse David every now and again. David made an offended noise as Renato smirked at him, but the Australian couldn’t stay mad at him for long. He admits it, he’s weak for the elder micronation. Once everything died down, Renato slipped downstairs with David close behind him. 

“Hey, everyone back away! Give them space!” Renato yelled and everyone cleared a path for him. He roughly grabbed Wang Huo’s wrist. “You. Will be staying in a room far from the rest of us. You are only to leave for questioning and meals. Got that, amico?” The “amico” sounded extremely threatening. Wang Huo nodded nervously.

“Y-Yes, sir,” He stammered.

“Good,” Renato gave him a terrifying smile as he dragged the Chinese boy along and out of sight. 

“Scary..” Peter whispered to David. David nodded before sighing dreamily.

“I love that man,” David muttered.

“How?”

“Trust me, I dunno mate. He just makes me feel like I’m as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike.”

“That makes no sense but okay.”

“And Morro makes me feel like a boofhead,” David sighed. “They’re great.” Peter just sighed in response.

“What?” David protested. “Not my fault that they’re beautiful! And amazing! And maybe hot too.”

“Gross,” Peter deadpanned, which made David make a noise of protest. The smaller micronation snickered before trailing after Tino when Tino called him over. Renato came back downstairs, brushing a lock of hair out of his face. 

“You alright, mate?” David asked.

“Yeah, you seem kinda frustrated,” Morro jumped in.

“I am frustrated,” Renato growled. “We’ve no sign of many others for months and then all of a sudden, they start showing up. Did they just now start to get brave? Where is that bravery that they had in that damn meeting room?”

“All valid questions, sweetheart,” Morro placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. 

“Don’t call me that.”

“Alright, sorry. All valid questions, man. But we won’t have a way to answer them until we stop hiding ourselves.” Renato’s shoulders slumped at the words.

“You piss me off, you know that right?” 

“Oh trust me, I do. I intend to piss you off till I dissolve.” Renato and David both flinched at the words.

“Don’t say that, Morro,” David chided. “We’re not going to dissolve. We’ve survived this long.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right. Then I’ll just annoy you two forever.”

Playful groans echoed from David and Renato, Renato smiling a smile they hadn’t seen in months. Morro ruffled their hair, making David whine and Renato burst into a fit of giggles. Eventually sunset came and the three came inside from their extremely cold guard shifts only to find pandemonium. Arguments echoed everywhere and there was not one person who was quiet, save for Kiku, but he’s always quiet. They watched as the Japanese male tried to fruitlessly calm an argument between Emil and Roderich, hate shimmering in both their gazes as they yelled at each other. 

“Why am I being blamed for this?! I wasn’t the one who last saw him, idiot!” Emil snarled.   
  
“Well, if it wasn’t you, then it must have been the micronations since they never even do anything!” Roderich huffed angrily.

Renato let out a gasp of offense and Morro and David saw how he was getting fired up from the shift in his stance. “If we’re useless, then you are too, bastardo!” He yelled, silencing the whole compound. “Because who forgot about their own micronation?! Certainly not everyone else! Who forgot about their own child?!  _ You! _ ” Everyone stared at the Italian as he turned on his heel and stormed out. 

“Ren-” Morro started but was cut off as the door slammed in his face. The room was eerily quiet after Renato had left, and Roderich walked away too calmly for everyone's liking.

  
  


Renato walked through the dark fields, the only light being the moon and his flashlight as he moved. He was angrily muttering and he stormed through the grass, the cold biting him through his coat. His footsteps were loud, but he didn’t seem to hear the more quiet set behind him. Renato was suddenly grabbed by the collar of his shirt and he let out a choked yell before something hit him over the head and the world went dark. 

There were voices. They seemed far away but they were yelling his name. “Renato!” A voice shouted and Renato sat upright, heavily breathing.   
  
“Oh, good, you’re alive,” A voice said. One that sounded… vaguely familiar.

“ _ Erland?! _ ” Renato cried, looking around. He was met with the familiar greenish-teal eyes looking back at him from a large monitor. 

“The one and only,” Erland muttered enthusiastically.   
  
“So he’s not dead? May the world rejoice.” Another voice muttered sarcastically.

“Kugel?” Renato whirled around at the sound of the voice.  
  
“Mhm.” They nodded.  
  


“Jesus what happened to you?” A female voice said.

“Eh?” Renato tilted his head. “I’m… not quite sure to be honest, Wendy. It’s been a hectic day…”  
  
“Well, you’re here now. Which is the worst possible thing but still,” Wendy sighed.

“You guys aren’t hurt right? They didn’t touch you?” Renato fretted.  
  
“If you count mental then Kugel is a no.”

“I’m right here.”

“Same here, Wy,” Erland said icily. His side was pressed against the inside of the screen, knees hugged to his chest. “You were supposed to help us, Seborga.”  
  
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Wendy crossed her arms. 

“Trust me, amicos, we’re working on it. David and Morro are still out there with a bunch of other nations,” Renato was fast to assure. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure of it. They’ll come for us.” There was a creaking of the door and someone was tossed inside, he was clearly a nation. They all startled, eyes widening. Wendy made a shocked noise before slamming her side against the bars of her cage. Renato wasn’t trapped but his body felt frozen as he stared. The male sat up with a pained sound before looking around.  
  
“You Arse!” Wendy yelled and slammed her side against the bars again.

“Wendy, quit it!” Erland snapped. “Stop! You’re going to hurt yourself!”   
  
Wendy wasn’t stopping, “You boofhead! Why are you even here!” 

“Wendy-” The male started before getting interrupted again. 

“STOP!” Erland yelled before the monitor shut off due to his anger affecting the circuitry. Wendy stopped immediately.

“Wendy,” The male walked over and grabbed her hand “I’m sorry.” Wendy sighed and leaned her head against the cage.

“Jett,” Renato said quietly. “You’re okay.”

Jett nodded “Yeah, and you are too. I’m glad to see all of you.” 

The monitor sparked to life. “There we go,” Erland huffed. “Damn thing. And I can’t say we’re okay, Australia. Ren got here a few hours ago, I’m trapped in here, and there’s those two. So, ja, not the best.”  
  
“But at least all of you are still here,” Jett said quietly.

“You sound upset. What’s on your mind, signore?” Renato asked lightly.  
  
“I was worried all of you were gone.” Jet admitted, “But I can see that you four are alive. Is anyone else alive? Is Hutt alive?”

Renato brightened and he nodded rapidly. “All us micronations are still kicking!” He said. “There’s others back home! A lot of others! Plus David and Morro and Peter!” A sigh of relief escaped Erland as he heard that his adoptive brother was alright. 

“Thank god.” Jett sighed with relief.

“We’re all alright, signore,” Renato assured. “Is there anyone else you’re looking for?”  
  
“I’m still worried if Hutt is going to be reckless. But who else is with him?”

“Morro,” Renato answered. “And others I shouldn’t say. But we’ve got a lot of people. Morro and David are working themselves out.” Jett nodded.

“I have no doubt that they’ll come for us with the others.”  
  
“I hope. But I hope they don’t be too reckless.”

“We all do,” Erland muttered. “Trust me.”

  
  
  


Gilbert was pacing his cell, even with the chains holding his feet down. It didn’t prevent him from standing though and he was getting antsy. 

“Please stop your insufferable pacing,” Arthur complained.   
  
“Gilbert, pacing isn’t going to help,” Ludwig mumbled.

“Sitting here all sad isn’t gonna help either,” Gilbert snarked. “C’mon, West, where’s your drive? You want to get back to them?”

“Of course I do,” Ludwig sighed “But we have no plan.”

“Neither did Kiku or Ivan but they got out!” Gilbert shot back. “So what are you gonna do huh? Sit here and wait for the cavalry that’ll probably never come? Or get out of here and see the people we wanna see?”

“You have a point,” Ludwig stood. “Alright, let’s do this.” They both slammed their shoulders against the bars of their cells in unison, aiming for the weakest point.

“What the bloody hell are you doing?!” Arthur cried. 

“Getting out of here!” Gilbert growled.

“This is a death wish!” Francis yelled.

“For you, maybe! For us, it’s freedom!” Gilbert slammed his shoulder against the bars again.Ludwig nodded as he did the same. Ludwig’s bars broke first, crashing to the ground and making Arthur flinch at the loud noise. Ludwig nodded to Gilbert. Gilbert beamed and continued to try and break it down, rubbing his shoulder after a few more minutes. Ludwig broke the chain and slammed his body against Gilbert's door, it breaking. Gilbert darted out, snapping the chains and stretching. 

“Finally!” He cheered. 

“You’re both mad,” Arthur said, eyes wide and bewildered.  
  
“We know!” Ludwig yelled.

“Let’s go, West! You gotta see your boys!” Gilbert beamed as he grabbed Ludwig’s hand, both running into the hallway. Both ran at similar speeds but unfortunately, they were spotted.

“Going someplace?” A voice called behind them. “I do hope you weren’t thinking about escaping,  _ Prussia and Germany. _ ” Ludwig cursed under his breath as they sped up. A katana narrowly missed them, making them both stop as it pierced the wall.

“Don’t take another step,” Another voice said, both sounded like they were getting closer.

Gilbert slowly turned, eyes wide. “West, run. Go.”

“Nein. I am not leaving without you,” Ludwig said.

“ _ Go! _ ” Gilbert snarled, shoving Ludwig in a direction. “I’ll hold them off!”

“Nein!”

“Go, gottverdammt!” 

Ludwig shoved Gilbert forward. “I can handle them. Just go.” Gilbert huffed before raising his fists and charging forward, one aimed at Kuro. Kuro swiftly dodged the punch and tripped Gilbert, pinning the albino down while holding his arm in an armlock. Ludwig decided to go after Lutz in pure spite. He was grabbed by Lutz while he pinned Ludwig on the ground and bending his arm. There was a loud crack and both were defeated. Gilbert strained against Kuro’s hold before the Japanese male dislocated his shoulder, a sharp scream of pain leaving him. 

  
_ “Why don’t you stay down?” _


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao have fun with that cliffhanger y'all

  
  


**Chapter 8**

Matthias felt the wall press against his back, chains holding him against the wall. After one more act up around Thurston, he was chained back, away from the bars with barely any light shining on him. He could faintly hear Lukas pacing in the cell beside him, muttering in Norwegian. Lukas kicked the wall in a tiny fit of rage. The chains around Matthias’ wrists clanked as he shifted.

“What are you thinking about?” The Dane sounded tired and his voice was raspy from his prolonged silence.

“I can’t figure out a way out. Besides, I can’t use my magic to help,” The Norwegian huffed and flopped onto the ground.

“I don’t think kicking the wall will help,” Matthias joked weakly. “Can’t you pick the lock, Nor? With your clip or something?”  
  
“I already tried that when we first got here.”

“Try again? There’s no one around,” Matthias laughed humorlessly, leaning his head against the wall. “Sorry, kinda tied up at the moment with ideas.”  
  
“Alright, I’ll see if it works.” He sighed and started to get up and pick the lock again. There was a telltale click and the bars opened up with the quiet creak. Matthias brightened at the sound of it.

“It opened?” He asked.

“Mhm,” He hummed.

“Well? Go! Get out of here!” Matthias said, straining against the chains slightly.  
  
“You want me to leave without you?!”

“Lukas, I’m chained up. You need to get to Emil and the others. Get out of here before they realize something’s off!” He sensed the burning of magical energy radiating off of the Norwegian as Lukas hesitated. “Go! Now!”

Lukas tossed him the hair clip, “Use it to get out of those chains and the cell. We will see each other again. Stay safe, Matthias,” He said before quietly running out.

“Jeg elsker dig,” Matthias whispered, knowing Lukas couldn’t hear him. As Lukas ran he heard much noise from a few halls down, like a person who was trying to leave got caught. He was running as fast and quietly as he could to find at least some sort of exit. A loud snap echoed, making him flinch. He found a staircase that seemed decently hidden and easy to rush up the stairs without making too much noise. He soon found a door, he was trying to be as quiet as he could and stay focused but it was hard to ignore the pained screaming. The door opened and he stepped out into basically ruins. Every building, store, and restaurant seemed… abandoned. It was eerily quiet.Lukas looked a bit heartbroken, but he decided it was best to keep running before anyone caught up to him. He started running, pushing himself even as his lungs burned and his legs felt tired; he didn’t stop. Sooner or later, he wasn’t sure, he made it to a plain, collapsing in the grass. There was faint shouting and shoes appeared in front of him before the world went dark.

A few hours passed and Lukas slowly opened his eyes, he was met with a light shining in his eyes and worried whispers.

“Both o’ you need to calm down,” A deep voice rumbled softly as the person who was speaking came into the room. “He’s wakin’ up.” Lukas turned his head and waited for his eyes to focus, he tried sitting up but immediately fell back down, his body still too tired for much movement.

“Stay down,” A soft voice murmured, pushing him back down to assure he stayed down. “You hit your head pretty hard.” The voice sounded young.   
  
“I’ll get him some water,” Another soft voice said, but this voice seemed older than the other as footsteps trailed out of the room.

“Be fast. He needs it,” The young voice said lightly. “I think he’s gonna pass out again…” They sounded worried. “Lukas, come on. Stay awake. You’re not allowed to pass out on me again.”  
  
Lukas groaned a little “Who is talking..?”

“Don’t speak until you have water,” The voice scolded. Lukas sighed a little, a few minutes later the other from before came back and set water next to Lukas, “There.”

The edge of the cup was pressed against Lukas’ lips. “Here. Drink.” Lukas hummed a little and let the water run down his throat. This process continued for a few more minutes until he talked again. “Who was talking earlier?”

“Open your eyes,” The deep voice rumbled.

Lukas decided to sit up against the others' wishes and he opened his eyes. He looked right into a light violet gaze that was extremely familiar. He tilted his head and his eyes widened “Emil?”

Arms wrapped him, accompanied by a teary “Bror.” Lukas hugged him tightly.

“You’re safe.”

“Of course I am. Are you okay?”

“In basic terms, yes.”

“I’ll take it,” Emil sighed softly, letting go. 

“Emil,” The deep voice said from the other end of the room. 

Lukas turned his head to look at him, “Berwald?”

Berwald pushed up his glasses with a soft nod. “Mm. The one ‘nd only.” 

Lukas looked at the person standing next to Berwald “Tino too?”   
  
“Mhm! I’m glad to see you’re okay Lukas. You’re not feeling any pain, right?” Tino asked.

“He’d better not. I’m the only one who mastered Viking healing methods,” Emil muttered, eyes sharp yet anxious. He mumbled huffily in Icelandic. Lukas chuckled a little and ruffled Emils hair to the best of his ability. Emil made a noise of protest, fixing his hair.

“Leon does that enough, I don’t need you doing it too,” He complained. 

Berwald chuckled. “We missed you,” He said to Lukas. “M glad you’re not harmed.” He thought for a moment. “Have you seen Matthias at all?”

“He is still in there. Chained to the wall. I gave him my hair clip so he can get out whenever he can.” Lukas immediately looked a bit saddened.

Berwald gripped Lukas’ hand lightly, making firm eye contact. “I trust him to get out himself. Remember all the shit he got into during our old days?” Lukas nodded. “Then trust he’ll find a way, chained to a wall or not.”

“The Dane’s too stubborn to die,” Emil mused. “He’d rather give up his drinking rights than lose us or die to them.”

“You have a point.”

“When do I not have a point?” Lukas chuckled in response.

“I need to go take shift again,” Emil said, grabbing his bow off of a table. Intricate carvings that Lukas recognized as Viking runes and other designs scarred the wood. He slung his quiver over his shoulder. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Okay, stay safe!” Tino called after him.

“Can’t make any promises,” Emil said as he went upstairs. Berwald slowly helped Lukas up and into a wheelchair that had been fixed up. The Swede took Lukas upstairs where it was bustling with life, nations walking and talking as they all moved around at rapid paces.

“Welcome to our home for now,” Berwald said. “We’re all over the place.”

“Great to be here.”

“It’ll be safe for ya here,” Berwald said, moving Lukas along. “Everyone’s making more security measures after a small incident so we’re all busy. Shifts are more frequent. It’s a little busy.”

“Tino-san!” A voice called as Kiku came rushing over, looking more lively than when Lukas saw him in the compound. “Can you help me clean my rifle? My hands got shaky and I messed it up. Apologies for the constant asking, Tino-san.”

“It’s alright! I would be happy to.” Tino smiled.

Kiku brightened, eyes lighting up and he quickly bowed. “Arigato!” Tino chuckled and followed Kiku out.

Berwald softened as he led Lukas to the common room where Roderich, Feli, Romano, and Antonio were planning out safe routes for supply runs, mugs of coffee and tea holding the old parchment down. “Hej,” He greeted, catching Feli’s full attention.

Feli cheered “He’s awake!”

Romano glanced up. “Buongiorno, Lukas,” He said. “Nice to see you awake and breathing.” He glared at Antonio as the Spaniard hit his boyfriend’s bicep.

“Hola, Lukas. How are you feeling?” Antonio asked kindly.

“Better.” Lukas said.

“That's good!” Antonio smiled. “But you are going to be on bedrest until you're fully healed, okay?”

“Alright.”

Antonio's smile brightened. “Bueno!” He chirped before leaning back over the map, smile vanishing as he talked in hushed Spanish with Romano. Lukas sent a nod to Roderich who nodded back. 

Romano let out a frustrated groan. “Considering the escapes recently, it’s not going to be safe anywhere. There’s no doubt they’re looking for Kiku and Emil considering the circumstances on how they got here,” He crossed his arms, a deep scowl on his face. His good eye scanned over the map. “They’ll probably be everywhere.” 

“Why would they be looking for Kiku and Emil?” Lukas wondered. 

“Kiku fooled them and broke out himself, even while fighting against sedative. He lasted maybe a few hours before collapsing in the field where Tonio and Feli found him,” Romano explained. 

“And Emil teleported,” Antonio said.

“He what,” Lukas deadpanned. Antonio looked nervous at that. 

“He teleported,” He repeated.

“How?” 

“Tino said magic.”

“So the little shit does have magic,” Lukas huffed. “If I’ve been fooled this long about it, then it must be a pretty explosive power. Suppressed magic can become explosive if bottled up too long.”

“Is it dangerous?” Roderich asked.

“Only if the user wants it to be,” Lukas replied swiftly.

“Alright,” Romano murmured. “It’ll be tough so we’ll have to take extra precautions. No goofing off.” He gave Feli a pointed look. Feli huffed a little in response.

“We’ll head out once the Icelandic’s shift is over. I’d prefer him inside so we’re not risking his life,” Romano stood up, hands on his hips. “Feli, start preparations. I’ll let Tino know to keep Emil and Kiku inside the bunker while we’re out.”

“Yes sir!” Feli said. Romano rolled his eyes, looking amused before he walked away.

  
  


It was silent in the compound since Ludwig and Gilbert had been recaptured. Since Ludwig was already quiet enough, Gilbert had been muzzled and his muffled shouts and mutters of rage seemed to be the only sound these days. Arthur was sick of it to say the least. Something suddenly slammed against the door at the end of their block, startling everyone.

“What the bloody hell?” Arthur’s eyebrows furrowed. The door broke open and a bat entered. The bat transformed into a familiar person.

“ _ Romania?! _ ” Each person chorused except Gilbert who just sounded plain confused.

“Wha- Vlad?! How’d you get out? Didn’t they have the same spell on your cell as mine?” Arthur burst.

“Oh, Oliver let me out. I was surprised too, but he told me to come get you and get out,” Vlad said.

“I- Whatever just hurry,” Arthur shook his head. Vlad started to recite a small spell to unlock the door and force the spell to break. The door creaked open and Arthur shot to his feet and started to move but the shackles around his hands prevented him. Vlad ran in and broke the chains off as best he could, “We need to go.”

“Agreed,” They both took off the moment the alarm started ringing, hearing Ludwig wishing them a faint good luck. The two ran as fast as they could. “He told me where the nearest exit is but we need to hurry before they run down here!” Vlad said. 

“Let’s pick up the pace then!” Arthur started running faster. Vlad started to do the same. They reached the exit and rammed the door open, stumbling out into the setting sun’s light.

“It’s so bright,” Arthur rubbed at his eyes slightly, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness.

“Agreed. Ow.” Vlad mumbled, “But we need to keep running.”

Arthur glanced back for a moment before starting off at a jog, gradually picking up his pace as he moved. Vlad transformed into a bat and followed.

Arthur jogged for hours while Vlad kept pace with him and he was losing energy at rapid speeds. He spotted a plain up ahead. “There! We can hide there!” He pointed to the tall grass. Vlad squeaked in approval before they both leaped into the tall grass and stayed down. Sooner or later, they started slowly moving through the grass when Arthur heard the whistle of something flying through the air and he rolled to the side, an arrow piercing the dirt where he was moments before. The two looked to each other in fright. 

Arthur let out a slow breath. “We’re near people then,” He whispered. “Stay low.” He started moving again, slower this time. When he heard an arrow fly through the air, he dodged, rolling to the side again. There was mumbling from a small distance away, there was suddenly a loud gunshot, the bullet flew over Vlad nearly missing him. Arthur channeled what bit of recharged magical energy he had and fired a curse at them, the flaming blast flying through the air.

“Move, you idiot!” A voice snapped from a distance. There was a thump on the ground signaling they both had dodged. Another gunshot rang out and the bullet slammed into the dirt beside Arthur’s hand.

“Are you bloody kidding me?” Arthur growled softly, firing off another, albeit weaker, curse at the direction of the bullet. There was the sound of running and before Arthur could process he was tackled and pinned down. Arthur let out a yelp, feeling a knee press in between his shoulder blades. 

“Don’t. Move.” A voice growled. Arthur strained against the man’s hold, blatantly not listening to him. The male pressed down a little harder. Arthur let out a gasp of pain, air slowly starting to leave him. He glanced at Vlad pleadingly. Vlad flew over and bit the males hand, he briefly let go. Arthur rolled over and the male caught a flash of his emerald green eyes before the Brit landed a hard kick to the male’s chest. The male yelped and fell back. Arthur flipped the male onto his stomach, driving his foot onto the small of the male’s back. It was a move the guy recognized. The male tried to squirm out.

“Don’t move,” Arthur growled, mocking the male slightly.

“You bitch.”

“How vulgar. Unfortunately, I cannot say I’m a female dog,  _ love _ .”

“Sure as well act like one.”

Arthur applied more pressure. “You’re quite lucky that I’m sparing your life. I mean I have you at my mercy.”

The male laughed “ _ Bless your heart. _ ” 

Arthur recognized the accent and the very familiar insult. “... Alfred?”

“Uhm. Yeah?”

Arthur let out a shaky breath, standing up. “Oh… Oh, dearest.” 

He flipped around and visibly brightened, “Iggy!” He wrapped Arthur in a hug. “Oh, darlin’, I missed you!”

Arthur laughed softly, hugging Alfred tightly. “I’m so happy you’re alive, love,” He said softly, burying his face in Alfred’s chest. 

Alfred nodded and buried his face in Arthur’s hair. “I was so worried you weren’t okay.”

“I’m okay as I can be,” Arthur whispered.

“We should get you to the bunker.”

“Ja, hurry up,” Emil yelled heatedly. “After your little fight, we’re not safe!” Vlad landed on Arthur’s head and the three ran to the bunker. Emil trailed behind, looking around worriedly. He knocked on the door and Roderich opened it. Roderich let them inside silently. The two newcomers quickly caught Lukas’ attention.

Lukas stood “Arthur? Vlad?”

Arthur saw and brightened. “Lukas! You’re alright!”

“So are you two.”

Arthur ran over and lightly hugged him. “I’m happy you are, old friend.” 

Lukas hugged him back, “Same to you.”

“So, who kicked who’s ass?” Romano called. 

“Arthur kicked Alfred’s with Vlad’s help,” Emil answered.

Vlad transformed back into a human and nodded, “Yup!”

“God for you,” Lukas chuckled.

“It’s always a pleasure to beat Alfred down a notch,” Arthur teased the American, smiling lightly. Alfred made a slightly offended gasp. Arthur laughed, lightly hitting his bicep. 

There was light conversation now, everyone chatting and catching up before a loud gunshot echoed, making everyone go quiet.

Berwald darted towards the door, eyes worried. “Tino.”


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> try to catch the reference. and yes. this was intentional

  
  


**Chapter 9**

Basch had been walking for days and he was tired of it. Tired of the abandoned cities, tired of the mountains, tired of the weather, he was tired of all of it. He was insanely worried about Lilli, unable to save her that day in the meeting room so he was determined to find her. She better be safe or so help him! As he slipped through the mountains, he saw the remains of people living there but they had clearly left maybe a month or two ago. Checking his scanner, he saw there was a faint signal coming from nearby. 

“That’s gotta be the compound,” He muttered. “Lilli better fucking be there.” He started his trek down the steep rock, being careful not to slip and hurt himself as he moved. After maybe an hour or so of walking he made it down. He saw a circular door, furrowing his eyebrows before seeing a flash of silver hair. He shot blindly, thinking it was an enemy. The male he shot at immediately shot back. What resulted was a shooting match between the two. A bullet almost hit the male’s foot and he opted to backflip over Basch from the top of the hill he was standing on, landing behind the Swiss male and pressing the barrel of the sniper into his back.

“Don’t move or I  _ will _ shoot.” The male said coldly.

Basch cursed in Swiss German under his breath, subtly shifting his stance so the stranger wouldn’t notice. “Who says you control me?”

“Quiet.”

“Nein. You’re not the boss of me.”

“I am not. But I am sure that this bullet could travel through your heart. Killing you.”

“Who says I can die?” There was a small silence.

“Turn around.” The male lifted up the barrel to his head. Basch let out a slow breath, hesitating slightly.

His eyes were stone cold until they softened a bit “Basch?”

“Tino?” Basch looked startled.

Tino lowered his gun, “You got out?”

Basch scoffed. “Got out? I was never captured.”

“Really?”

“Ja. I was never captured. Lilli was, though and I need to get to her.” 

Tino hummed “We will get her out. As well as everyone else.”

Basch’s shoulders slumped. “She’s not here? What about Abel? Is he here?”

Tino shook his head “I’m afraid not.”

Basch cursed softly, running a hand through his hair. It was noticeable that he’d cut it, it being much shorter now. “So no sign of either of them?” Tino shook his head.

“Fuck,” Basch snarled, a sharp scowl marring his face. “I can’t stay then. They need me.” His foot tapped against the ground as he looked out over the field of grass as though Lilli or Abel were going to pop out of some portal and come to him.

“If you need a safe place to stay for a little while you know where this is, Basch,” Tino said. 

Basch was silent for a moment. “Give the others my regards. I’ll be back if I was successful,” His voice was quiet now, more solemn. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was messing with a ribbon tied around his wrist.

Tino nodded, “stay safe.” 

“Can’t say I will,” Basch glanced to Tino. “See you around. If any of us nations truly survive this.” He started to set off in the field, after reloading his gun. Once Tino couldn’t see his expression, worry lines ran through the skin. “I’m coming,” He whispered. “Wait for me. Please.”

  
  
  


Matthias was humming softly in Old Norse, trying to fill the silence of his space. He felt like crying but he’d cried too much, the emotional emptiness eating at him. Was Lukas okay? Was he safe? Did he find the others? He’s not hurt… right? Thoughts ran through his head at rapid paces, so fast it was confusing him even if his face didn’t quite show it. He heard the door to his block open and his breath hitched, song dying in his throat as his heartbeat started to speed up. A male stepped in and leaned against the gate, blood red meeting icey blue.

“Hallo.”

Matthias grit his teeth, moving back slightly and pressing himself against the wall. “What do you want?” He snapped, anger shimmering in his eyes. “Wasn’t yesterday’s torture enough, Loki?”

“I thought a bit more fun was in order,” Loki snickered.

“You’re sick,” Matthias snarled, pulling against the chains holding him. “Get the  _ fuck  _ away from me.”

Loki hummed and stepped away from the cage and out of Matthias's sight. When the footsteps piped up again he saw a familiar violet eyed male, uniform and everything. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. Matthias’ breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened as fear and tears filled them.

“Nej… Nej, nej, nej, nej, NEJ! STOP IT!” He yelled, starting to strain against the chains again.

“Shhh.” He said, brushing some hair out of Matthias’s face.

“G-Get away,” Matthias said breathlessly, trying to move away from him as his breathing started to pick up again. He covered Matthias’s eyes with one hand. Something soft yet sharp trailed up his arm and back down, causing him to shiver. Suddenly, a sharp pain went through near his wrists. The sound leaving his mouth was pained and agonizing, tears started to streak his cheeks. 

“S-stop--stop, go away,” He whimpered. “I don’t- I can’t- get away from me!”

He shushed Matthais softly, his unoccupied arm with the sharp object sliding across his back and to the other side. Matthias tried to move his arm away, chest heaving as he hyperventilated, forming incoherent strings of words that were hardly understandable. The object seemed to keep running up and down his arm, slowing and slowing until it reached a similar point as the other. There was a prolonged silence until the sound of bone breaking was heard and Matthias screamed out again. His scream echoed and his panic increased as pain flooded his whole body, making him stiffen up for a moment.

He removed his hand from Matthais’s eyes, stepping into his view. A sharpened pair of bloodied scissors in his hand, his clothing bloodstained as well. His face was stoic, violet eyes stirring with mischief. Matthias felt lightheaded due to his inability to properly pull oxygen into his lungs and he was dizzily whispering pleas to stop, looking weaker than before. He smiled softly, the scissors creeping closer and closer to his left eye. It was a quick second before a squelching sound, followed by screams of agony. Matthias felt the blood drip down his face before he went limp, breathing heavily. 

Loki laughed. “This was fun. Hope you’re still alive by the next time.” 

There was a sudden creaking sound nearby one of the bolts holding Matthias’ bonds. “Who said I was gonna be here?” The Danish male’s voice was quiet and it was hard to tell if he was doing anything before he slammed his more wounded arm to the floor, the bolt snapping from the wall due to the sheer force of it. Loki took a step back as he watched. “You… may have taken my sight in my left eye. You may have wounded me. But I,  _ the nation of Denmark _ , refuse to bow to you!” The other chain snapped and Matthias slowly stood as he reached into his boot and pulled out the small hidden backup axe. The axe took full size and he swung at full force, the flat of the blade slamming into Loki’s head. Loki fell on the ground with a thump.

“You little…” Loki growled. 

Matthias angled the axe down, the blade lightly pressing against Loki’s throat. “Try to stop me and you won’t live to see the light of day again.” Loki didn’t move, he only glared daggers at Matthias. Matthias moved to leave, a hand shakily coming up to weakly tap at an earring, tapping out a small message. 

_Hej._ The response to his message was quick

_ Hallo. Okay?  _ Matthias’ reply to the sudden message wasn’t fast enough and he was soon bombarded with a multitude of phrases in morse code that Matthias could only identify as Berwald, who was clearly upset and worried.

Matthias only sent back  _ Nej.  _ before he went quiet again as he started to navigate his way through the compound, bleeding heavily.

  
  


When Berwald felt the tap, he froze in checking over Tino, eyes widening. His hand drifted to his ear, lightly brushing over the sapphire gem that was in the earring. 

Tino looked at him worriedly, “Sve? What’s wrong?”

“Matthias,” Berwald whispered. “He’s alive.”

“He is? Is he okay? Is he hurt?” Tino asked.

“Dunno,” Berwald shook his head. “But he’s alive.” Tino nodded. Berwald saw Lukas run into the room, looking panicked.

“Did you get a message too?” Lukas asked.

Berwald nodded rapidly. “Ja,” He said. “Ja, I did.” He felt tears start to well in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away, not wanting to cry in front of either of them just yet. Lukas started tapping on his own earring, trying to be as calm as possible. When the reply didn’t come soon enough, Berwald tapped out a multitude of messages on his earring, hands shaking. There was a moment of silence before they felt  _ Nej  _ be tapped out and then, there was silence again from the Dane. Lukas looked at Berwald worriedly. Berwald seemed equally worried, eyebrows furrowed as he anxiously messed with a ring on his finger, twisting it around as his mind reeled with the prospect that the older nation was still alive but not okay. It scared him to no end.

  
  
  


Matthias felt like he’d been walking through the twists and turns for hours but it could just be the blood loss messing with his head. He wasn’t sure; everything was blurry together. It was hard to tell where he was but he saw a staircase after what seemed like forever and slowly stumbled up the stairs, pushing the door open. He almost fell when he reached the light dusting of moonlight, grasping the door for support before letting it slam shut once he regained his balance. He took slow steps, unsteady on his feet as he struggled to keep himself upright. It was too dark to tell where he was but his brain seemed to be failing him in this moment since he couldn’t tell anything anymore, only knowing he had to get someplace, to somewhere, to  _ someone _ . It felt like an eternity to his fear addled brain before he reached someplace, unable to identify what or where it was before his resolve finally gave out and he fell, blood still leaking from multiple wounds onto his clothes and the dirt below him. 

There were rapid footsteps and a scream,  _ “MERDA!” _

It seemed to fade as Matthias lost his consciousness and closed his eyes.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorter chapter but dont hate me for the next. plz.

  
  
  


**Chapter 10**

It was quiet, save for Berwald’s and Lukas’ quiet and solemn discussion in the common room when the door was suddenly shoved open.

“Get a medic! NOW!” Kiku yelled, his eyes wide and fearful.

Elizabeta and Tino leaped up, “What’s wrong?” Tino asked. Kiku stepped aside to let Feli in and the Italian was carrying a person on his back. A person who was very familiar. Elizabeta gasped and guided Feli to take the male to a bed. The male was bloodied but you could see a familiar sapphire earring in his left ear, one that matched Lukas’ and Berwald's. Feli set the male on the bed and Elizabeta and Tino began to work as fast as they could. The minute they touched a deep cut on his left arm, a loud scream of agony left him, a singular blue eye opening up at the sudden jolt of pain. They had to calm him down and keep going. His screams echoed so much so that Emil, who was upstairs, was covered by three clingy and terrified micronations all cuddling him. Eventually they finished up and he'd passed out again from the pain, chest heaving. Tino sighed a shaky breath as they eventually finished. The person didn’t seem to be waking up anytime soon, bandages covering all the wounds and a bandage wrapped around his head which covered the missing eye. 

They came up and saw Berwald and Lukas staring at them with rapt attention.

“Who was it?” Lukas asked. His expressionless mask cracked a bit as his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes shimmered with an unreadable emotion.

“It’s… Matthias,” Tino said, hesitating on the name as he bit his lip slightly. “He’s injured really badly.” 

Lukas shot to his feet, eyes icy cold and face blank. “He’s what.” 

Tino flinched slightly, eyebrows furrowing and a nervous look appearing on his face. “His forearm is broken, he’s blinded in one eye, and there’s deep cuts on his right wrist as well as a gash running through the flesh on his shoulders,” He said, gesturing wildly to pinpoint the spots where Matthias was injured and cut. “It doesn’t look good.”

Berwald glanced at Lukas. “Is he alive?” He asked softly. “Can Lukas see him?”

“He is alive. But I think it would be best to wait a little before Lukas comes to see him,” Tino responded.

“Mm,” Berwald hummed quietly, looking conflicted. 

A few hours later, Matthias stirred. He let out a soft groan as he sat up before noticing the darkness one side and freezing as his heartbeat pounded in his ears.  _ Where am I? What happened to my left side? Why can’t I see? What is this place? Why does everything hurt?  _ His mind spun with thoughts, only breaking out of his trance when he heard someone come down a set of stairs. He tensed up, a hand slipping towards his boot. The steps stopped and there was a quiet yet familiar voice.

“Matthias?” 

Matthias froze and suddenly, all he could hear was Loki’s taunting voice even as he stared into the familiar purple depths of Lukas’ quiet and mysterious gaze.

“Matthias are you there?” They asked.

Matthias pressed the heels of his hands to his forehead. “Stop it, stop it, stop it,” He muttered, shaking his head rapidly. “It’s not him, it’s not. Stop it.”

“Matthias, it’s me. Lukas,” Lukas kept his distance. 

A choked sob left Matthias’ lips. “No it’s not. Stop tricking me!”

“Matthias K øhler.” Lukas said firmly, “Look at me and listen.” Matthias meekly glanced up, blue eye fearful and muscles tense.

“Loki isn’t here. This is Lukas. I don’t know what he did but this is real. I am real,” Lukas said softly. Matthias felt Lukas lightly grab his hands and flinched, hiding his face.

“I will not hurt you.”

Matthias felt tears start to leave marks on his cheeks and a high whimper left his throat as another person came down the stairs Lukas had. He didn’t seem to see the person at first, feeling the bandages stick to his face on his left side as tears leaked through the material while more visible tears were seen on his right side. Lukas was quiet and rubbed his back softly. Matthias flinched at the touch, more tears starting to fall. 

“Lukas?” Tino asked as he quietly walked over and received a hum from the male.

“Hello, Matthias,” Tino said softly as he stood next to them. Matthias barely managed a shaky nod, swallowing nervously. 

“How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know,” Matthias whispered. “Can’t say I know anything anymore.”

Tino hummed, “It’s okay.” He gave Lukas a nod and Lukas stepped back, Tino taking his place and removing some of the bandages, he began to replace them. Dried blood covered the missing eye, making it seem more horrifying than it really was as Tino changed the bandages over it and the other irritated wounds wounds that scarred his body. Tino quietly apologized every time Matthias flinched. 

“I don’t like not being able to see,” Matthias murmured. “It’s scary.”

“I understand, it will be okay.”

“Who says? It’s sight, a sense I’d need.”

“Things happen, you have to adapt from that.”

“Adaptation is hard.”

“You need to try.”

“Emphasis on try.” Tino sighed in response.

Matthias let out a sigh. “I don’t mean to be so down. It’s just hard to keep a smile up after…” He trailed off, shuddering. 

Tino hummed, “I see.”

“I’m going to need help. A lot of it.”

“We will try to help.”

“Thanks,” Matthias sounded beyond tired.

“You should rest.” Lukas said.

“I’ll be fine,” Matthias said.

“Nei, rest.”

“Nor. I’ll be okay.”

“Rest.”

“Norge-”

“Rest. Or I will make you.”

Matthias pouted but flopped back, huffing. “Fine.”

“Good.”

The compound was silent for a little while before there was a loud banging noise, which woke Matthias up and caught the attention of everyone in the bunker. 

“Oi, what’s going on?” David called as he came down from the second floor. 

“Everyone, to your positions!” Kiku yelled. “NOW! This is NOT a drill!” Almost immediately, pandemonium broke out, everyone rushing to get to their hiding areas and battle stations. Matthias was left in his room, alone.

The sound of the door going down reached everyone’s ears and a sharp growl from Feli echoed.

“Luciano.”

“Ciao. Miss me?”


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ehehehehe, hey ludwig got out

**Chapter 11**

“I am requesting you to leave,” Kiku growled and there was the sound of him unsheathing his dagger. “Immediately.”

“Sorry, but that will not do.” Luciano said.

They stared each other down before the 2ps surged forward, the others meeting them halfway. Weapons flashed and gunshots rang out while blades collided with a clang. There were clammorings of footsteps going down the stairs, many seemed to be running but two were quite controlled stepping down. Matthias tensed and reached for his axe. A male peeked inside and looked at Matthias, he put his finger to his lips and closed the door again. Matthias’s eyes narrowed as he stared the male down, muscles tense.

The words were clear, “No one was in here.”

Even though it was unspoken, it was clear Matthias didn’t quite appreciate it.

  
  


The first nation to go down was Emil. He saw Leon getting backed into a corner and flew into a rage. “Leon!” He yelled before tackling Erikur. The two went flying across the common room in a spiral of white and black as they wrestled. Emil seemed to have the upper hand. It didn’t last long though. 

“Leon, you fucker, RUN!” Emil yelled before he was thrown to the ground and pinned. He struggled, kicking and punching but Erikur didn’t budge. Leon begrudgingly ran. He ran out into the field and struggled to find a hiding place in the open space. He saw a few getting dragged out, one being Emil which shattered his heart at seeing the struggles the Icelandic boy was working with. 

The next person to get captured was Yao. He saw Viktor, Ivan’s 2p, raising his weapon up to whack Ivan while Ivan was stunned. Yao’s eyes narrowed and he ran forward, jumping up and redirecting the shovel as he shoved it midair with his shoulder. 

“Don’t touch him,” Yao snarled. Viktor didn’t say a word to him. Yao glared down the taller male before gripping the shovel from the other side and pulling with all of his strength. “Ivan,” His voice was quiet. “You need to run. Immediately.”

“What about you?” Ivan asked.

“Aiyah, you worry too much,” Yao teased humorlessly. “Just get out.” He gave the shovel a strong tug. Ivan sighed and got up, running. He tripped over Leon who was hiding in a bit of taller grass.

“Leon?”

“Yeah?”

“You escaped too?”

“Yeah.” They heard loud cursing as Yao was dragged out. Ivan had to force himself to stay down. There was a loud yell as a gunshot rang out but it sounded like Tino’s rifle yet different. Both peeked their heads to look. There stood a murderous looking Berwald, standing in front of Tino with a smoking rifle in hand. He shot again when someone tried to get close to them. Lukas ran up behind Tino and attempted to drag the injured man away even though he continued to refuse. Berwald fought fiercely before he was taken down by Thurston and his hands were chained behind his back. He snapped something in Swedish, eyes sharp and angry.

“Ber!” Tino yelled as he reached for Berwald but he started to be dragged away by Lukas.

“Get him out of here, Lukas!” Berwald thundered before Thurston pressed his boot down on the taller male’s back which made him grunt in pain as he was pressed down against the ground.

Kiku was watching with fear as all the people close to him were taken down or running away. He’d watched Feli and Romano get captured at once while he was fighting Kuro and Luciano, and he’d be lying if he said his heart didn’t stop in his chest when he saw. He managed to slip away, hiding away someplace in the bunker where he wouldn’t be found while the 2ps ran off with their victims in all varying stages of wounded. The ones who were left were trying to recollect themselves.

“We’ve got to keep going,” David said. “It’s clearly not safe for us anymore.”

“There are some bunkers scattered throughout. The closest is only about two miles,” Morro chimed in. 

“We should collect everyone and everything before heading that way.” Lukas said.

“I don’t think there’s that many things left,” Morro said.

Arthur sighed. “We’ve got to at least check.”

“Agreed.” Tino sighed as well.

“They went through the whole compound, picking up whatever they could take before leaving. They started to walk to another bunker but they felt like they were missing something. 

Arthur stopped. “We forgot two people.”

“We forgot Matthias and Kiku.” Lukas smacked his hand on his forehead.

“We’re halfway there though,” Morro protested. “Let’s keep going and once we drop off our stuff, we can go get them.”

“I agree with Morro,” Roderich said.

“Then I suppose that’s what we do,” Arthur said. 

“Fine,” Lukas sighed. They walked until they made it to the bunker where they noticed that the door was already unlocked. Tino pulled out his shotgun and limped inside, expecting an enemy. He saw Kiku and Matthias inside, Kiku lightly tending to the pained Dane. 

“Kiku? Matthias?” Tino asked and limped over.

Kiku brightened. “Oh thank goodness you’re alright!”

“Same to you two! How did you even get here?”

“Kiku here found a secret tunnel and helped me through it!” Matthias said brightly. “We came through the first entrance we saw.”

“I see.”

“We got lucky,” Kiku murmured. “Extremely lucky.”

“Indeed you did.” Lukas said.

“Is anyone wounded?” Kiku said worriedly. Lukas pointed to Tino. “Tino-san, please come here. Where are you hurt?” Tino walked over and showed his leg. “That’s cut quite deep.” Kiku started to make sure nothing was inside the cut and that nothing was broken before starting to clean it. Tino remained somehow very calm. Kiku then wrapped it. 

“Take it easy, okay? I do not wish for the injury to get infected,” Kiku said softly. “It would be very hard to reverse it since we don’t have the right resources right now.” 

“I will.”

Kiku smiled gently. “Good.”

The sun was starting to set so everyone that was left went inside and started to prepare for the night. Matthias had latched onto Lukas, good eye looking over the Norwegian’s features as if he was trying to convince himself that he wasn’t dreaming. Kiku was sitting at a table, pen lightly tapping against his cheek as he looked over a drawing of the prison that he made from memory. He looked frustrated as he scribbled out areas and blocks, furiously writing notes in a mix of kanji and katakana. If anyone didn’t know what he was doing and saw this without context, they might’ve thought it to be from World War II. Many were resting while some were not. Kiku was up till late in the night, even after most had gone to bed. More notes were hastily written across the paper before he sighed and turned the light off, going to head upstairs to the barracks where Tino and the micronations with them had set up cots with blankets and pillows. Halfway up the stairs, he heard a crash and stopped, making eye contact with Roderich who had obviously still been awake as long as he had. 

“Sorry,” Roderich mumbled. 

Kiku pressed a finger to his lips, mouthing “Someone broke in. Be quiet.” Roderich nodded, a hand coming up to the familiar cross necklace around his neck. The light over where Kiku had been suddenly illuminated the stairs slightly but not enough that they were seen. They heard quiet and obviously confused mumbling as Kiku slowly crept down, slipping his dagger into his hand. The noises continued but there was another loud thump, nothing followed. Kiku froze, tensing up as he peeked around the corner. He was confused since he couldn’t see anyone. The room was eerily silent. Kiku slowly moved when something grabbed him from behind. He let out a shriek and started struggling, nails digging into the pale skin of his attacker. The male grunted in response and tried to pry him away. Kiku let out a deep growling noise, dagger slicing a light cut into the male’s forearm and he broke free which made him stumble forward. 

“Wake someone up! I’ll handle the intruder for now!” He yelled up to Roderich. Roderich nodded and bolted up, the intruder mumbled a curse in a language Kiku knew but he didn’t seem to process. Kiku slashed up with his dagger, narrowly missing while the tip of the blade cut the male’s cheek. The two continued to fight each other. A loud gunshot rang out and a bullet embedded itself in the wall by Kiku’s head. Kiku then caught sight of the male’s face in the dim light and his eyes widened, dagger clattering to the floor as his grip loosened on it. 

“Ludwig-san?” He whispered. 

“What?” Ludwig mumbled.

“Ludwig-san, I need you to put the weapon down. Please.”

“Kiku?”

“Put the weapon down,” Kiku slowly reached out his hands, the movement shaky and nervous. Ludwig tossed the weapon onto the floor. Kiku relaxed before pulling Ludwig into a hug, struggling to keep his breathing under control.

“Kiku, you’re alive,” Ludwig mumbled and wrapped his arms around Kiku.

“H-Hai, hai, I am. Thank goodness you are too,” Kiku’s response was choked as he started to cry. “Thank goodness.” They stayed in solemn silence while hugging each other until Roderich came down the stairs with Lukas in tow. Kiku had his face buried in Ludwig’s shoulder, shoulders shaking as he silently cried with his fingers weakly gripping onto the German’s shirt. Lukas and Roderich stayed silent other than a sigh of relief from Roderich. 

Kiku let go, working to calm down. “How did you find this place?”

“I was walking and I accidentally stepped on some old glass on this place and… Broke it.” 

Kiku couldn’t help but laugh softly. “Only you Ludwig-san. Only you,” He said amusedly before helping Ludwig up. “Come. You should rest.” Ludwig hummed in agreement. Kiku guided Ludwig up the stairs, giving a nod to Roderich and Lukas. 

“Apologies for waking you up, Lukas. I thought it was an assassin or something,” He said. 

“It’s alright, I understand. Don’t wake me again,” Lukas left.

“Good night, Roderich-san,” Kiku said softly. He led Ludwig into a barracks room that seemed to be only him at the moment. “Here. It’s not much but it’s what we have right now.”

“It is alright.” Ludwig hummed, “I am just so glad you’re here.” Kiku gave a weak laugh. 

“It’d be better if we had more people. We came here in a rush.”

“What happened?”

“We got attacked a few hours ago,” Kiku murmured. “We lost almost everyone. Now it’s just me, Roderich, Lukas, Tino, Matthias, Peter, David, Morro, Arthur, Alfred, Ivan, Leon, Eliza, and Antonio. And that’s it.”

“I see.” Ludwig mumbled.

“Feli-kun told me to run. But I froze. And he got…” 

“So Feliciano was recaptured?”

“This will be his first time at the prison, Ludwig-san,” Kiku shook his head. “I’m worried.”

“I’m sure he will be okay.”

“I can’t help it. I don’t want him to go through what we’ve gone through.”

“I understand.”

Kiku flopped back onto the cot. “I’m sure you saw my map that was left out on the table.” 

“I did. I have extra intel if you would like. But later.”

Kiku heard Ludwig lay down next to him and he yawned. “Hai. Good night, Ludwig-san.”

“Goodnight.”

  
  


Meanwhile…

It looked dark when Feli woke up when he knew well that it was morning. There weren’t any windows and he couldn’t see where he was.

“Che cazzo?” A voice mumbled dizzily beside him, the sound echoing off the dark walls. 

“Fratello!” Feli rushed over to him once he heard his brother’s voice, running through the dark room until he tripped over something. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Get off,” Romano snapped.

“Mi dispiace!”

“Are you two alright?” A voice rang out. It sounded Italian but unlike anyone they truly knew. A hand reached out to Feli, pulling him up and off of Romano and the younger caught a glimpse of soft blonde hair and a curl as well as gentle purplish brown eyes.

_ “Flavio?!” _


End file.
